Seeking Destiny
by shadowsapex
Summary: Ichigo is about to fall to a hollow, desperate to save his sisters, when that golden-eyed voice in the dark tells him, "I'll give you your destiny." His destiny begins from wrangling an inconveniently powerless shinigami girl who shows up in his town. It goes on from there.
1. the dark side

_Yes, I changed the summary again._

* * *

Oh, it's always amazing how fast the world can be ripped out from under your feet.

Ichigo is thrown to one side as the car flips over with a deafening noise, its metal walls denting, all at once too delicate and too heavy around him. He wraps his arms around his sisters, shielding them as they cry out. The car grinds to a spine-jolting stop along the asphalt, resting on its side.

He coughs at the acrid smoke in the air. "Dad?" he calls out as he tries to extricate himself from the seatbelt and airbags. There is no reply from the front seat. "Dad!"

A huge roar shakes the air, the frame of the car, his bones. With his door pinned between the car and the ground, Ichigo tries to clamber over the seats and reach for the other side. He gropes for a handhold to grab onto, only to jerk his hand back with a gasp. Blood wells from a cut across his palm from the sharp edges of broken glass. He clutches it to himself, wincing.

The car's frame shakes from a foot slamming into the asphalt next to it, then there comes the horrible screech of metal like some unliving beast in agony. The whole side of the car is ripped apart. He glimpses a giant hand and wicked claws.

It knocks the car back, flipping it over again. Yuzu clings to him with a wail until everything stops moving. He hugs her to his chest, grabs Karin's hand, and manages to shoulder his way out through a tangle of twisted metal.

Something like a monster out of nightmares stands over them. It has slitted reptilian eyes, huge black sickle claws, and spikes jutting out from its limbs, spine, and tail. There is a hole in its chest, which he can see clearly through.

It roars, a blood-chilling sound not of this world, and raises a hand to strike. The sound snaps Ichigo out of his shock. "Run!" he shouts, pushing his sisters ahead of him.

He dives and rolls, trying to cover his head against the hail of rubble thrown up when its claw slams into the street. He scrambles back to his feet, stumbling on the uneven ground, his mind a whirl of panic.

A thick spiked tail slams into him and sends him flying.

Something crunches as he slams into a building. He doubles over, clutching at his stomach. The warm feeling across his hands is blood, he realizes. All too much of it.

He looks up, blinking to focus his vision and see the monster approaching him. Every breath tears at his lungs. It's an effort to stay conscious, let alone move. Karin and Yuzu, he thinks. At least they're okay.

It brings up a hand. A brick clonks off the side of its head.

Ichigo follows its sight as it turns. Behind it stands the dark shape of his father. There's a cut on his forehead, blood covering half his face, and a grim smile across his lips.

"Yeah, that's right, big boy," he calls out. "You wanna eat someone tonight? It's gonna have to be me first!"

Ichigo hears the beast chuckle lowly beneath the rough hiss of its breath. It steps towards his father, who stands his ground with a set jaw. Ichigo reaches out a hand, mouthing a plea he doesn't have the breath to say.

There is a small choked sound, harshly cut off, as the monster swings its claws in an almost lazy swat at his father. A wet-sounding crunch, the snapping of bone.

Ichigo finds his voice in time to scream.

He doesn't remember getting to his feet. The pain in his side and back is beyond him. He yells hoarsely, charging at the beast with a swinging fist, only managing to scrape his knuckles against its scales. It casually backhands him. A blinding pain flashes behind his eyes as his head cracks against the ground. He lies there, gasping for breath, his limbs refusing to obey his commands. No, he thinks, this can't be happening, this can't be happening.

He can't let this monster kill him. He can't let it callously cut down his father like that. It doesn't deserve to _live_.

It raises its claws and time slows down.

 _'Do you want power?'_ a voice hisses at Ichigo from everywhere, nowhere, all around him. _'Do you want to live?'_

"Yes," Ichigo gasps.

 _'Are you sure?'_ it says. _'Once you draw my blade, you'll never be able to let go of it again.'_

It certainly doesn't sound concerned for him. Its voice is filled with a vicious barely-hidden glee.

I don't care, Ichigo thinks. I'm sure.

Darkness surrounds him like a veil dropped. In front of him stands a shadowed figure, with long hair and a white cloak and a slasher's smile across his face. The only solid thing he can see in the dark is its eyes, glowing yellow and piercing into him like a predator's.

 _'Then I'll give you my power,'_ it says.

Its hand raises a sword, slim and darker than night, darker than even their surroundings. It pierces into Ichigo's chest.

He screams. It's pain of a kind he's never felt before—it tears at his heart and into the depths of his soul. All he can hear is the high cruel laughter of the yellow-eyed fiend as his vision fades.

He opens his eyes to find himself standing. The monster lets out a howl of pain behind him. Blood covers his hands, its heavy scent tainting the air.

A smile spreads across his face. The heady sensation of _power_ courses through his limbs. The pain from his wounds disappears. He feels indomitable, unstoppable.

He turns and meets a blow from the monster in a block with his arm. He feels the wind from its swing ruffle his hair, the concrete crack as he plants his feet, but he stands his ground, perfectly steady as he catches its strike. He doesn't even feel it.

He grabs its arm, sinks his claws into its hide, pulls, _twists_.

It howls as its arm is ripped from its body. He lets it fall to the ground with a thud and runs at the beast. Charging his legs with energy, he jumps ten feet without even trying and swings a clawed hand for its mask. It raises an arm to block. He rebounds off the air, changing directions to slash through the inside of its elbow. Its arm falls limp.

The scent of blood in the air is intoxicating. He hears wild laughter that rings in his ears—is it his own? He can't stop. He doesn't want to stop. The power humming through his veins tells him to destroy, consume, conquer.

The monster howls again and turns to flee. In a flash, a tendon in its leg is cut, and it crashes to the ground.

Ichigo advances on it. He's not done. It won't be over until he's taken from it everything it's taken from him. It won't be over until he's taken everything it _is_.

"I-Ichigo!"

He freezes.

That voice.

So small and so weak, but its sound cuts through the haze in his mind and suddenly he's on his knees, gasping for gulps of cold clear air, and there's blood on his hands and splattered all around him and a monster lying at his feet.

He stands up and backs away shakily. He's not injured anymore, he realizes. And are those… claws on his hands? His sisters are crouched somewhere behind him, clinging to each other. Karin looks pale. Yuzu gasps when she sees him.

What? What's… what's wrong with him? What's going on?

The monster on the ground snarls, flailing for him with one arm. He backs up, staring at it, his heart pounding. Did he do that?

 _'Finish it!'_ a voice in his head is yelling and he tries to shake his head, tries to say no, but the pain in his head is like a vice and his body won't obey him. He takes a step forward without his will, raises a hand. It swings down, driving a scythe of pitch-dark energy through the monster's skull. It falls limp, and slowly dissolves into black particles that fade away.

Ichigo falls to his knees on the shattered concrete ground. It's all he can do to focus on breathing. His mind feels so fuzzy—half the fight is a blur. The haunting emptiness in his chest cries out for more death, for blood, flesh—

He shakes his head, trying to focus. No. No, no.

A small hand twists into the fabric of his shirt. He stiffens and whirls around, batting the hand away. Yuzu stares back at him, pale and wide-eyed.

"Ichi-nii?" she whispers. "Are… you okay?"

"Yuzu," he murmurs. He tears his eyes away. "I'm sorry."

He staggers shakily to his feet, turning away. "Karin. Call an ambulance."

Like walking in a dream, he makes his way to his father's side. Blood surrounds his prone figure, his skin ashen against the pool of dark liquid. Ichigo kneels down next to him, blood soaking into his jeans. It's already cooling. He fumbles at Isshin's neck for a pulse.

He's dead, some part of his mind tells him. No, he thinks, and tries again at another spot.

He looks up. "Dad?" he whispers. He grits his teeth and bows his head as only silence answers him. As ever, as always.

"Ichigo? What… happened?" Karin whispers from behind him. "That… that mask…"

Mask? Ichigo reaches up to his face. His claws scrape against something hard, and a shudder runs through him.

Gritting his teeth, he hooks his claws around the edge of the mask. The pain forces a wild cry from his lips, stabbing down to his very core. With a gasp, he rips the mask from his face. He collapses to his knees on the hard ground, staring at it in his hands and gasping uneven breaths. A skull mask, bone-white with red stripes surrounding the left eye.

He doesn't feel Yuzu's hand that clings to his shoulder, doesn't hear whatever words Karin says. All he hears is the hissing voice in his mind.

 _'My mark. It means you'll never be free of me.'_

* * *

 _It's ok Ichi and Zan will work things out eventually._

 _Here we go, it's my first fanfic. It's a more casual story I'm doing in between my various other works. It's basically going to be a canon rewrite for now but who knows where it'll go? Here's to a long and fun ride!_

 _Please review! Reviews are the best. Also, do tell me if you find any errors._


	2. not an ideal first meeting

_18 months later_

Ichigo is lying in bed and thinking about his life.

A sudden tremor reverberates in the air, carrying with it a feeling of dread. He straightens up. There's a hollow nearby. He focuses on the feeling of its reiatsu as it travels a wandering path, circling ever closer and closer.

Great. He hopes it's not hunting him. An added inconvenience to his night.

As he debates the merits of getting up, a swallowtail butterfly flies through his window. It's black, he registers in the instant he glimpses it. Not a kind he's ever seen before.

A black-robed girl steps through the window after it.

She has short black hair, one strand hanging over her face, and solemn purple eyes that scan the room. She wears an old-fashioned kimono, a sheathed sword at her hip.

Ichigo scrambles out of bed as she hops on his table, then down to the floor. _Wha…_

The hollow stirs in his mind. _'That's a shinigami,'_ he remarks.

Seriously? She's… small. The hollow notes this too, though whereas Ichigo is thinking _she looks like a kid should she be trusted with that sword_ , the hollow's probably considering how easy she'll be to subdue.

 _'What's she doing here?'_ he says mentally. The hollow shrugs.

As for her, she's standing in the middle of the room, looking around and completely ignoring him. "It's near," she mutters to herself.

"Oi," Ichigo calls out. She doesn't seem to hear.

"Hey, you! Hello?"

She walks towards the door, frowning to herself. "How strange," she says. "Something is blocking my senses…?"

 _'I'll say,'_ the hollow snarks.

Ichigo jumps off his bed and strides across the room to her. He claps a hand on her shoulder. "Hey!"

She jumps and whirls around, stepping away from his arm and going for the hilt of her katana. She stares at him, violet eyes wide.

"You! You can see me!"

Ichigo raises an eyebrow. "I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

"How?" she says, gaping at him and jabbing a finger in his face. "You are a human!"

Ichigo steps back from her intruding finger with a scowl. "What about you? What do you think you're doing in my house?"

She blinks, like she had forgotten, and recomposes herself in a moment. "Stay out of my way. I am on the trail of a hollow. We can sort out whatever you are afterwards."

The hollow! Ichigo had almost forgotten. He casts out his senses

Dammit. It's nearer than it was. And by nearer, it's _right next to his house_ how _did he not notice?_

A haunting howl shakes the air, a feeling that goes straight down to his bones. The shinigami seems confused at his sudden panic.

"What is it? Is something happening?"

"The hollow!" Ichigo resists the urge to shake her by the shoulders. "The hollow is here! How did you not hear it?"

She blinks. "Here? But—"

And then an explosion shakes the entire house and screams come from downstairs. Without sparing a glance for the shinigami, Ichigo is running.

He hears footsteps on the stairs behind him. "Wait! _Wait!_ Stay back, it's too dangerous!"

He runs down the stairs and bursts out onto a nightmarish scene.

Karin is crawling on the floor, blood streaking her face. There is a huge hole in the dining room wall, table and chairs overturned and covered with dust. Just outside it, a huge shape is silhouetted in the dim light. It holds something small and limp in its hand.

Ichigo stops short. "Yuzu. _Yuzu!_ "

And he's running blindly forward, his hollow howling for blood and he agrees and when they agree, nobody can stop them.

The hollow turns towards him and Ichigo freezes. Just its hand dwarfs Yuzu. It could crush her body with a twitch of its fingers.

Reiatsu flares around Ichigo. He knows the harsh growl that comes from his throat isn't human.

Suddenly, the hollow rears its head and roars in pain as a blade flashes in the dark, slashing deeply across its arm. It drops Yuzu. Ichigo charges forward and catches her, barely even feeling her weight in his arms. He runs back to the house with her, glancing over his shoulder to see the shinigami engage with the hollow.

"I'm fine," Karin says when he asks her. He sets Yuzu down next to her and checks the both of them for injuries—no more than scrapes and scratches. Behind him, he can hear the sounds of sword clashing with claws.

 _'It's not your concern,'_ his hollow says, sensing his anxiety as he watches the shinigami's battle. She's being clearly overpowered, struggling to block each attack.

She steps back, her body trembling as she gasps, hair tangled about her face. A second too late to block the hollow's next strike, it slams her into a nearby building, her sword flying from her hands to clatter on the other side of the road.

She gingerly picks herself up, coughing. The hollow's shadow falls upon her. As she looks up in dread, another off-hand slap knocks her into a wall.

 _'Why, you idiot,'_ Ichigo's hollow mutters as Ichigo abandons all caution and charges.

The girl cringes and closes her eyes as the hollow raises a huge hand, looming over her. When nothing happens, she opens them a second later to see Ichigo, standing in front of her and blocking its hand with crossed arms. He grits his teeth, skidding backwards a step.

She gasps. "You!" Ichigo makes the mental note that after this, if she's still around, they should start again with introductions. "What are you doing here? You can't fight that thing!"

"Neither can you!" Ichigo shouts back. The hollow withdraws its hand and he staggers, almost falling. He stares at it, gasping, assessing its every movement. Should he reveal his powers? Wouldn't that just make the shinigami his enemy? But if he doesn't do anything, they're both dead.

"Boy," the shinigami gasps. "My zanpakutou… can you get—"

"Your sword?" Ichigo says. "Can you even use it right now?" And if she can wield it, she can go get it herself.

She grimaces, shaking her head. "But maybe," she says slowly, "you can."

"Huh?" A shinigami's sword? Him?

"Bring it to me," she says, drawing herself up straighter against the wall. "I will transfer my powers to you. You must defeat the hollow."

 _'Yes!'_ He feels the sharp focus of his hollow's attention, the weight of its influence on his mind. _'Do it! Take the offer!'_

 _'What's your deal?'_ Ichigo thinks. _'You wanted nothing to do with the shinigami earlier.'_

But he gives the shinigami a short nod, then turns and runs, giving the hollow a sharp kick in the shins as he passes it. It roars in anger and turns to him, but as he dashes across the road, it turns its attention back to the shinigami, easier prey just lying there helplessly.

She's muttering something under her breath though, and as it approaches, she raises a hand. "Hadou #33! Soukatsui!"

A blast of blue fire surges from her palm, blasting the hollow back. It roars, flailing at its face and staggering, its steps cracking the concrete. It takes its time to recover—its prey isn't going anywhere soon.

Ichigo arrives with her sword in hand. He doesn't think it likes him, or at least that's how it feels to him. He's never touched any other shinigami's sword before. He's more than happy to hand it off to her.

"So. How are we gonna do this?"

She raises her sword, the tip leveled straight at him. "I will run my blade through the center of your chest, and infuse it with half of my shinigami power."

"Is it safe?" Ichigo says.

 _'You'll survive.'_ The hollow sounds dismissive. Ichigo finds he usually is on matters pertaining to his physical survival, so long as his soul survives.

"No," the shinigami says. "But the higher your spiritual energy, the better your chances. I think you might have the highest chance of survival of all the humans I've met."

 _'Do it,'_ his hollow hisses. _'Do it!'_

He wants the power, Ichigo realizes, and now he's having doubts about the whole thing. But it's too late to back down now.

 _'You don't realize,'_ the hollow says, and there is a hard edge to his voice. _'This is the path to your destiny.'_

Ichigo kneels next to the girl. He clasps his hands over hers on the sword's hilt. Its tip falls at his chest, hovering an inch over his heart.

"All right. Let's do this, shinigami."

A smile flickers at her lips. "It's not shinigami. It's Kuchiki Rukia."

Ichigo nods. "Kurosaki Ichigo."

She shoves her sword forward, Ichigo's hands on it. A bolt of cold slices through Ichigo's chest. He feels no pain—is he in shock? He can't bring himself to look down and check if there's an actual sword impaled in his chest. Did he just seal his own death?

Power, cold as a winter stream, pure and glittering as midnight frost, flows through him from her blade. It's exhilarating, energizing him like a jolt of adrenaline. Like for the first time, he can really _breathe_. His own power explodes from him, swirling around him and absorbing her foreign reiatsu and turning it into his own familiar blaze, into part of himself.

He stands. There is a sword in his hands and he doesn't question where it came from because his instincts tell him he has always had it.

The hollow charges. He's behind it in a breath, its arm falling severed from its body in a spray of blood. It howls in agony.

Ichigo breathes in, out. This feels right. This power that courses through his body and responds to his every command. This blade in his hands.

This is his birthright.

The hollow turns and charges at him. He cuts off its foot with a flash of steel. A vicious smile is stretched across his face. He doesn't care.

With his final blow, he cleaves through its mask and skull, and it howls, dissipating into scraps of fading black. Ichigo lands from his jump. To his surprise, his legs collapse underneath him and he falls to his knees on the ground, barely propping himself up using his sword.

It looks like a katana in shape, but of a size he's never seen before, reaching nearly as long as he is tall. Gasping for breath, he meets the shinigami's eyes.

She's quite openly gaping at him, kneeling weakly on the floor. Her kimono has changed from black to white. She's missing her sword.

"You… what did you do?"

"I dunno." Ichigo is tired beyond belief, all the energy he had earlier seeming to have left him.

She points at him "You stole all my powers!"

Ichigo frowns vaguely. "I did?" His hand slips on the sword's hilt. "I didn't… mean to…" The last two words come out as a mumble as he slumps to the ground and his eyes slide shut. The sword clatters to the floor next to him. He's not sure she even understood him.

* * *

 _("I'm sorry! The voice in my head told me to!")_

 _Thank you to everyone who rated, followed, reviewed, etc! In fact, thank you to anyone who gave this little fic a second look! I'll do my best to make something you can enjoy._

 _Please review! Reviews are the best!_


	3. a part time job offer

Ichigo sits bolt upright in his bed with a gasp. He looks around, finding himself to be, as always, in his familiar bedroom.

He frowns. But, last night…

Oh, shit! A hollow attacked last night. And the shinigami…

He throws on his clothes and scrambles downstairs.

His sisters are both fine and eating breakfast despite the giant hole in their wall. They don't seem worried when he asks them about it.

"Oh, don't you remember, big brother?" Yuzu says, cheerfully doling out rice for him. "A truck crashed into our house last night."

Karin stares down at her bowl with a brooding frown. "Karin?" Ichigo says. "You okay?"

She looks up. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine. That must've been what happened. Damn truck." She frowns at Ichigo as he takes his seat next to her. "Uh, is something wrong?"

"It's nothing." Ichigo tries to ease up on the stormy scowl on his face. He recognizes the signs of the memory replacers that Urahara uses to chase away social workers every time they come poking around. It turns out it is not nearly as pleasant to see them used on his own family.

The shinigami doesn't seem to be around for him to point fingers at. Maybe she's back in Soul Society. Hopefully she is.

He doesn't make it to school until third period, and walks in on a scene of his friends speculating about him being dead. Fairly ironic, considering he's already at least half dead. When he sits down, Keigo's chatter turns to the subject of the new transfer student.

Then Ichigo catches sight of her and his only thought is _that's not a transfer student._

She prances up to Ichigo, looking unfairly normal in her uniform and skirt, and sticks out a hand while Ichigo is stuck gaping at her.

"Hello! I'm Kuchiki Rukia! It's nice to meet you!" she says with an angelic-sweet smile. Ichigo stares at her hand like it might have a large tarantula on it. Written on her palm in black marker is 'Make a scene and you're dead!'

Needless to say, his inner hollow thinks it's all hilarious.

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

The shinigami girl crosses his arms. "What do you think? I'm here because of you." She glares at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you even a human?"

"Of—of course!" Ichigo says quickly. "What else would I be?"

Yeah, that's right, shinigami. What _else_ would he be?

The girl hesitates, looking thoughtful. "You know what a shinigami is, and what hollows are. And I've never seen a human with such levels of spiritual pressure as yours."

"Well," Ichigo rubs at his neck. "I've been able to see ghosts since I was young."

'Cause Urahara told him the best lie is a half-truth. Not that he wants to act like that shady shopkeeper any more than he has to, but he has to admit it's useful.

"Yes," Rukia says, with a hand at her chin, "if you were born with naturally high reiatsu… yes, and that _would_ cause…" She looks up. "So, you're saying you've seen shinigami and hollows before.."

"Yeah." He jumps on the convenient excuse without hesitation. It's even technically true.

She sniffs. "With your self-preservation skills, I'm surprised you haven't gotten yourself eaten yet, but that's not why I'm here."

"It's not?" Ichigo says in complaint. She's not going to stop talking?

"Of course not! You—" She jabs a finger at his chest. "—stole my spiritual powers!"

"Wha—" Ichigo steps back, raising his hands. "I'm sorry! You can have them back! I don't want them!"

Even as he says it, he realizes. _That_ was definitely a lie.

"It doesn't work that way," Rukia says with a glower. "I'll have to wait for you to lose your powers before I can regain mine. Which means I'm going to be stuck without my shinigami powers for the foreseeable future."

"And— you're going to be staying at _my_ school for all that time?"

"More than that," Rukia says. She crosses her arms with a smug smile. "You're going to have to do my shinigami duties until then!"

"No," Ichigo says flatly.

Having the shinigami following him and bossing him around for all this time would be a nightmare, and not only that, there's a high chance she'll come across his secrets. Secrets that, for the good of both of them, are better not revealed.

The girl's confidence falters. "No? What do you mean? You have to!"

Ichigo scowls. "There's no 'have to' about it."

"You have the powers!" Rukia says, looking alarmed. "It's your job!"

Ichigo waves dismissively. "There are other shinigami in town."

He doesn't see a problem in casually referring to Urahara like that, since it's pretty much an open secret anyway. After all, where else would Rukia have gotten that gigai?

Rukia crosses her arms, rocking back on her heels. Ichigo doesn't fail to catch the sly look in her eyes. It's a dangerous look if he ever saw one.

"Perhaps," she says, "but Soul Society is going to get pretty suspicious if I'm not cleansing my quota of souls. They might even send some of their officers to check. What are you going to say to them?"

"Are you threatening me?" Ichigo demands.

"No!" Rukia draws herself up to her full height. "I'm stating a fact! Lending my powers to a human the way I did is against the laws of Soul Society! I could lose my rank or be exiled! And _you…_ if the authorities are not in an accommodating mood, they could execute you on the spot!"

She jabs a finger into his chest. "And I did all this to protect _your family_."

Ichigo gapes at her.

Rukia's phone beeps. She flicks it open with a flip of her wrist. "There's a hollow. Let's go."

* * *

Ichigo is pacing back and forth near the park fence while Rukia pokes at her cell phone. He glances over at her screen to see a listing of numbers that look like statistics.

"Your phone can tell you when a hollow shows up?" he asks.

"It's called a denreishinki," Rukia says. "I receive my orders from Soul Society with it."

"It carries a signal across dimensions?"

Rukia nods. "Don't ask me how it works. The twelfth division makes them all."

"That's… pretty cool," Ichigo has to admit.

He looks around. The park is quiet. There are a couple of kids playing. "So… where's the hollow?"

"It should be crossing into our world in around fifteen minutes, give or take."

Great. So he's standing around for fifteen minutes. He can only hope he's not going to get into trouble involving his body, which he had left lying around at his school.

 _'You'll be fine,'_ his hollow says. _'Just get the shinigami to use her memory-replacement device.'_

"I need one of those," Ichigo mutters under his breath. This earns him a weird look from Rukia for talking to himself. He is used to those, which is kind of sad.

There is a loud crashing sound from behind them, followed by a shrill scream. They turn to see an insectoid hollow chasing down a young boy. A ghost, Ichigo notes, from the chain on his chest. Ichigo grabs the hilt of his sword.

"You know him?" Rukia asks.

"Seen him around playing sometimes. Never talked to him."

"Well then, go protect him!" Rukia shoves him at the fence, and he almost trips and falls over it. He leaps over, drawing his sword.

"That's the job of a shinigami!" she calls after him. "To fight, and to protect!"

Ichigo runs at the hollow while muttering under his breath. He's got to get Rukia back for barking commands at him like he's a dog.

 _'But you're so well trained,'_ his hollow snickers. _'Just point you at a target and go 'Ichigo, protect!'_ '

 _'Shut up!'_

Ichigo skids to a stop in front of the hollow, bracing his sword as it charges into him. It pushes him backwards as he tries to plant his feet, its spiked legs swinging wildly to try and impale him. He bats it away with the blade of his sword. The kid is whimpering softly somewhere behind him.

His blade lashes out and severs one of its legs. It skitters backwards with a screech, and Ichigo takes the opportunity to turn and ram the sword into its head.

It's kind of awkward fighting hollows with such a large weapon. It doesn't afford him the grace and agility he's used to—though there's not much he can say is graceful in running up to a hollow and punching it in the face. And when that didn't work, he fought them with claws and ceros.

Yeah, this definitely beats claws.

He yanks his blade free and steps back, letting the hollow collapse and fade away at his feet. When he looks up at Rukia, she gives him a short nod, stowing away the cell phone in a pocket and climbing over the fence to join him.

Wow. He beat her hollow and this is all he gets. But he's not sure why he expected anything else.

Rukia kneels down next to the boy, who is shivering and cowering on the ground. Her voice is surprisingly gentle as she speaks.

"Don't worry. You're going to be okay now. That monster that was chasing you has been dealt with." She beckons Ichigo over with a hand.

"Alright, I might as well do this now. I'm going to show you how to perform a soul burial."

Ichigo kneels next to her. "Soul burial?"

"Yes. It is how we help lost souls pass from this world and move on to the Soul Society."

Oh. Yeah, he knows what this is. Or, he knew that shinigami help souls pass on but he didn't know what it was _called_.

"Take your zanpakutou," Rukia directs him. "Tap the hilt of it lightly to his forehead."

The kid squeaks and scrambles backwards when he lifts his sword. Rukia rests a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. There is nothing to fear. We are here to send you on to a world where there is peace."

The kid nods with a jerk of his head and stares wide-eyed at Ichigo as he touches the bottom of his zanpakutou's hilt to his forehead. It leaves a black stamp of the two entwined kanji for death and life. The kid's figure fades away into light, leaving only a black butterfly which flies away and vanishes in the blue of the sky.

"Woah," Ichigo says. That was… something different.

"Well, Ichigo?" Rukia says. "Do you agree to take on the duties of a shinigami?"

Ichigo stares at the fading motes of light from the soul that swirl in the air. He turns to her. "Why did you save my family that night?"

Rukia blinks, taken aback."What?"

"You risked my life for me. You sacrificed your own powers so that I'd be able to protect my sisters. And don't say it was something like your duty as a shinigami."

"That _is_ what it was," Rukia says. "We are tasked with the protection of innocent souls—"

"Don't give me that," Ichigo says. "Duty is no reason to die for someone you've barely met."

Rukia is silent for a long time, not looking at him. "I don't want to fail anyone again," she says quietly.

"Hm." Ichigo smiles wryly. "Maybe it's something like that for me too."

He sighs. "I won't say I'll protect all souls from hollows. I'm not willing to sacrifice myself for a total stranger, either. But I'm sure as hell not going to let someone die in front of me when I have the power to save them. And I do owe you this."

He extends a hand. "I'll do it. This shinigami job of yours."

* * *

 _Please review! Reviews are the best!_


	4. stirring up ghosts

_Orihime is going to call Ichigo Ichigo-kun, because Kurosaki-kun is a very tired meme._

* * *

Rukia has her face buried in a manga book and is reading its lines with an almost impressive amount of dramatics as Ichigo walks up. He wipes away sweat from his forehead, probably leaving grime on it, and taps his bat on the ground impatiently. She doesn't notice. She seems totally absorbed in the manga, reading the lines in different voices and everything.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Ichigo shouts in her ear after walking up right behind her. She shrieks and fumbles the manga, nearly dropping it.

She whirls around. "You scared me!" She clutches the book to her chest. "I'm studying the contemporary vernacular of this world!"

Ichigo points at her with the bat. "You're slacking off while you make me do work!"

"I am not!" Rukia huffs. She blinks at Ichigo, just now seeming to remember what he was supposed to be doing. "Are you done?"

"Yes!" Ichigo leans the bat over his shoulder. "I hit all of them!"

"But did you hit the right ones?" Rukia says.

Ichigo stares at her. "'Right ones'?"

"Yes! You were supposed to hit the ones with heads!"

Ichigo grabs a ball out of the pitching machine. "This weird scribble is a head? What's it supposed to be the head of?"

Rukia glances over. "That's a hand."

"What?" Ichigo throws the ball at the ground. It bounces feebly. "How is anyone supposed to tell? Your drawings are crappy!"

"How dare you!" Rukia clips him on the side of the head with her manga book.

"Um," Someone laughs uncomfortably from the sidelines. "am I interrupting something?"

Ichigo jumps, and probably makes a strange noise. He whirls around to find Orihime standing there, rubbing the back of her head. He scrambles away from Rukia. "Uh, no! We weren't doing anything. Anything important."

Orihime beams at him. "I didn't know you and Rukia-chan were such good friends!"

"Oh yeah." Ichigo glances sidelong at Rukia. "Such good friends."

"Who is this?" Rukia hisses to him under her breath.

"Idiot! She's Inoue Orihime! She's in our class!" Ichigo hisses back.

"Oh! Inoue-chan!" Immediately, the harmless schoolgirl smile is back on Rukia's face. She hops down from the picnic table and curtsies to Orihime. "It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

Ichigo rolls his eyes.

"Oh, um… thanks!" Orihime clumsily returns the curtsy. Ichigo watches her with a frown.

"Inoue," he says.

She jumps and straightens up. "Huh?"

"What happened to your arm?" He nods towards it. Her upper arm is wrapped in bandages that just peek out from under the edge of her sleeve.

"Oh, this?" She points to her arm with a grin. "I was in a crash!"

"A car crashed into you?" Ichigo says, way too loud.

"Yeah!" she says. She almost sounds enthusiastic. "I went out to get a drink last night and _bam_!" She rubs at her head. "It's been happening a lot lately."

"That's dangerous! Be more careful!"

Rukia leans towards Ichigo. "Does Orihime get hurt a lot?"

"Almost every day." Ichigo shakes his head.

Wait, but why does she care? He gives Rukia a questioning look, but she doesn't notice, her attention focused on studying Orihime. She looks concerned.

"That mark on your leg. Can I take a look?"

"Huh?" Orihime looks at her legs and Ichigo winces internally at what he sees. A huge bruise mars the skin of one leg, over nearly her entire calf.

"It must have happened when the car hit me last night," Orihime muses. Rukia frowns, staring at it with an intense look.

What? What is she seeing? Ichigo moves closer. From here, the mark on her leg almost looks like…

His blood chills. The imprint of a hand, too big to be human.

"Huh? Is something wrong?" Orihime says. Rukia stands, brushing off her dress and plastering the same polite smile on her face.

"Oh, nothing! I was just thinking that it looks really painful!"

"Wow, how did you know!" Orihime says. "It hurts way more than my arm!"

"Seriously?" Ichigo says. "You should go to a hospital."

"Really?" She clasps her hands together, shuffling her feet. Suddenly, she gasps, looking at her watch.

"Oh no, I'm late! Shoten's gonna start!" She hobbles off for the stairs.

Ichigo sighs, running a hand through his hair as he watches her leave. She's a sweet girl, but really, it's tiring just watching her. His eyes linger on the bruise on her leg.

"Well, Rukia?" he hisses to her out of the side of his mouth. "What's the deal? Is it a hollow?"

"I don't know," she replies, "I can't be sure from that alone. It might be a hollow."

"Might be?"

Her lips twist. "It is most likely a hollow."

Ichigo nods, making his decision. He marches forward. "Hey, Inoue! I'll walk you home!"

Orihime jumps like a startled rabbit, turning around midway up the stairs. "Wha—huh?"

Or, on seeing how flustered she is, maybe this isn't such a good idea. "I mean, if that's okay with you!"

Orihime waves her hands wildly. "No! I mean, no problem! I mean yes! Yes, it's okay! I'm okay!"

 _'She likes you,'_ his hollow says mockingly.

 _'You've said that before,'_ Ichigo snaps back.

* * *

They walk side by side for a while with neither saying anything and the silence dragging on to be somewhat awkward. All the advice his hollow offers is _'ask her out'_.

Seriously. He doesn't need the voice in his head playing matchmaker for him.

"So, Ichigo-kun," Orihime turns to him suddenly. "Since when were you and Rukia-chan friends?"

Ichigo stiffens. "Huh? When did you get the impression that we were friends?"

"It just seems that way when you talk!" Orihime says, making abstract gestures with her hands. "There's that kind of energy between you!"

"Energy?" Ichigo says. "What does that mean?"

"I don't know!"

"Huh." Ichigo runs a hand through his hair. "Well, me and Rukia only met a few days ago, really."

"Really?" Orihime says. "It's like you've known each other for years, though!"

"No—"

"Secretly!"

"...No."

"Maybe—" Orihime waves her hands wildly. "—maybe you're undercover crime-fighting partners who work together to take down criminals!"

"Um—"

"Or you're heroes who prowl the streets at night, protecting Karakura from monsters!"

Ichigo rubs at his neck, glancing away. "I'm sure that's not it."

"Oh?" she says, looking dejected. "But I think Ichigo-kun would be so cool as a superhero! It would be all like yiiah! Hi-ya! Bam! Hwah!"

She kicks and flails around, acting out dramatic action scenes. Her movements are a little clumsy due to her injured arm and leg. It puts Ichigo on edge just watching her. He hopes she doesn't hurt herself.

"Oh! Ichigo-kun!" Orihime perks up. "Can I design your costume?"

"Wait, what?" Ichigo says.

"For when you become a superhero!" She gestures with her hands, framing something in the air. "I'm thinking, black! With a cape! And a cool mask!"

"I'll work on the cape," Ichigo mutters under his breath.

His hollow nudges him mentally. _'She thinks I'm cool.'_

 _'No,'_ Ichigo snaps. _'She does not.'_

* * *

An uneasy feeling hangs around Orihime's apartment. Ichigo frowns, stalling his footsteps as they approach.

The reiatsu of a hollow is faint, very faint, whispers in the wind and traces lingering in shadows, but one had obviously been hanging around here in particular. He can't figure out how recently it's been around, or where it is now.

Rukia would probably be able to tell more. This is one thing he admits he sucks at.

"Ichigo-kun? Is something wrong?"

Orihime's voice jars him out of his thoughts. He pushes them to the back of his mind. "Huh? No. What, what is it?"

"You have kind of a scary look on your face," Orihime says cheerfully.

Ichigo raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah! It's that look you get when you're thinking!"

"... _Really_?"

"Mm! It's something like this!"

And she scrunches up her brow and turns her lips down in an expression that is nowhere near scary or like him. It's just kind of cute.

"Well," Ichigo says, "I was just thinking about…" He glances around, casting for an excuse. He finds himself on the second floor of Orihime's apartment building, standing outside her door, and feels kind of awkward. This is about as far as he can reasonably take 'walking Orihime home'.

 _'Hollow doesn't seem to be around,'_ his hollow muses. _'Might be hanging about somewhere just outside of this world, though.'_

Orihime unlocks her front door. "Um, Ichigo-kun," She turns to him, hands clasped behind her back. "Do you want to come in?"

Ichigo does a double take. "Wait, what?"

 _'Nice,'_ his hollow says. _'You didn't even do anything.'_

Orihime smiles disarmingly, appearing not to notice Ichigo's apprehension. "I thought you might want to try my new tea recipe!"

Ichigo winces mentally. "I, um..."

"Great!" Orihime says, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him forward before he can think of a reason to refuse. She all but bounces across the doorway, Ichigo trailing her.

He takes a few steps through the apartment, feeling distinctly out of place. It's a somewhat bare place, functional, decorated with flowers. At one side is a shrine with a picture of a young man with black hair and sad eyes. Ichigo vaguely recognizes him as Orihime's brother.

Orihime bustles off to her kitchen, dropping the groceries on a table someplace. She pokes her head back through the door. "Oh, um, please take a seat! The tea will be done soon!"

"That's okay," Ichigo mutters, "take your time."

"Okay!" She skips back into the kitchen with a grin and Ichigo hears her humming as she rattles things around.

Tea, huh? Probably with leeks and bananas. He sighs, wondering how he could politely refuse to drink it. Drifting about the room, he finds himself standing at the small shrine. Inoue Sora stares back at him. Now that he's looking closer, he sees in his eyes, his hair, the shape of his face, his resemblance to Orihime. The shrine looks clean, well-tended.

He remembers that day, three years ago. It wasn't very often that their clinic lost people, and it was always terrible when it happened. And she was his age.

He remembers her, with her bright auburn hair, shaking with sobs and gasps outside their door, arms and legs trembling under the weight of her brother. His blood soaking into her back, dripping from one deathly-pale limp hand, drip by drip onto the floor.

He had passed away there while they were arranging his transfer to a hospital and left a sobbing girl alone in a house of strangers.

Ichigo lets out a breath, looks up. "Where are you, Inoue Sora?"

* * *

Rukia sits up at a shrill beeping from her phone. She flips it open, scowling down at the screen, which casts a blue light over her face in the darkness of the closet.

"Dammit."

She pushes the closet door open, leaping lightly to the floor. Stowing away the phone, she takes a skull-emblazoned glove out of a back pocket and pulls it over her hand.

"That fool, Ichigo. He didn't even take this with him."

* * *

Ichigo gets no response. He sighs and turns away.

 _'Hey, how long does it take a soul to become a hollow?'_ he asks mentally.

 _'You're asking me?'_ comes the reply. _'Do you expect me to be an expert on hollows or something?_ '

Ichigo rolls his eyes. _'Well, if you're not going to be helpful, just say so.'_

He turns away from the shrine with a sigh, plopping himself down at Orihime's small table.

 _'If Inoue Sora's become a hollow, he'll definitely come for her,'_ the voice in his head mutters.

"I know," Ichigo says, scowling at the surface of the table.

The doorbell rings. Ichigo gets to his feet, tossing out an "I'll get it!" over his shoulder. He pulls open the door.

Tatsuki stares incredulously back at him.

* * *

 _(Next day at school_

 _Orihime: Oh, Ichigo! I have something to show you!_

 _Ichigo: Uh... what is it?_

 _Orihime: A picture of you as a superhero!)_

 _Ah, this was my first time writing Orihime. I had fun._

 _A note about shipping in this fic. I'm not big on romance, so there will be about as much of it as in canon Bleach. Maybe more, because it's hard to have less than canon, but the romance will not go anywhere. And I'll be writing whatever pairings depending on what I feel like._

 _Please review! Reviews are the best!_


	5. lost brothers

Tatsuki turns away in a neat circle. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I had Orihime's house."

"Uh," Ichigo says intelligently.

Tatsuki tilts her head back slowly, a devilish grin across her face. "Waaait, this _is_ Orihime's house, isn't it?" she drawls. "What are _you_ doing here, _Ichigo?_ "

"I can explain!" Ichigo blurts out. It isn't a good note to start on, he reflects, but too late.

"Oh? Could it be?" She turns around, leaning forward and planting hands on her hips. "Our boy Ichigo really does have a love life after all?"

"No!" Ichigo says. "This isn't like that!"

"Really?" Tatsuki crosses her arms and leans against the doorframe. "Then it's like what?"

"Oh, Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime pops her head out from behind Ichigo with a smile, acting oblivious to the tension. "Come in!"

Ichigo steps aside and attempts to blend in with the scenery. Tatsuki marches through the doorway. "So, Orihime, spill. How long have you and Ichigo been so close? And how did you keep it from me for this long?"

Ichigo gives her an incredulous look. He's almost certain at this point she's misunderstanding on purpose. Why are all the people in his life like this?

"Oh no no no," Orihime says, waving her hands. "Ichigo-kun was, um, just walking me home! And I invited him in to try my new tea recipe!"

Tatsuki raises an eyebrow, turning to Ichigo. "Why were you walking her home?"

"I, uh, I thought—" Ichigo flails for an excuse. _'Hey, help me out!'_

 _'What?'_ says his hollow, who's just gleefully watching events unfold. _'You expect me to help you?'_

Ichigo fumes mentally. To Tatsuki, he says, "Well, her injuries looked pretty bad. 'Cause, you know, she was in a car accident last night. So I was just… going to make sure she didn't get into any more accidents."

"Yeah right." Tatsuki leans over and nudges him. "And if she _accidentally_ fell into your arms along the way, I guess that would have been okay with you, right?"

"What are you implying?!" Ichigo sputters.

Tatsuki snorts. "Whatever." She walks over and claps Orihime on the shoulder. "Good goin', girl!" When Orihime looks bewildered, she gives her a grin and a thumbs up.

She strolls over to Ichigo, who watches all of her movements carefully, shifting back half a step with unease. "And you!" She punches Ichigo in the arm. "Don't you dare hurt Orihime, ever. You hear me?"

"Ow! Yes! Yes, I hear you!" Ichigo scoots away, rubbing at his arm.

She turns on her heel, crossing her arms and stepping towards the center of the room. "So, what's new?" She gestures around. "Are you gonna make this a regular deal?"

"No! Like I told you, it was just—" Ichigo pauses. "You're not going to beat me up?"

"Beat you up?" Tatsuki says. "Tempting, but why would I?"

Ichigo waves a hand. "I dunno. I just thought you beat up any guys who went after Inoue."

Tatsuki smirks. "I think I'll make an exception for you. You know she can't stop thinking about you, right?"

"Uh, what?" Ichigo says. He looks over to Orihime, who immediately flushes and shakes her head so hard he's afraid it might fall off.

"Yeah, she's got it real bad," Tatsuki says. "You know when you were absent during that other day? She was sighing and pining after you for—"

"Tatsuki-chan!" Orihime cries. "You don't have to say all that!"

She chuckles. "Okay, if you say so. Anyways, you have got to be unbelievably oblivious to never notice that. I mean, haven't you seen the way she—"

"Hey," Ichigo says, "are you calling me—"

He cuts himself off. A tremor runs through the air, and the space around him turns oppressive, like a shadow looming over him from behind.

He whirls around. Nothing seems wrong. There's nothing in the room.

"Huh? What is it, Ichigo—" Orihime gasps. Ichigo snaps his head around, only for her to run past him before he can call for her to stop. She kneels down on the floor next to a fallen teddy bear.

"Enraku!" she cries.

Enraku?

"Oh no!" She picks it up, cradling it in her hands. "Enraku, are you okay? Speak to me!"

Wait. The dark presence in the room—it's still there. It's coming from—

"Inoue," Ichigo says, barely keeping a veneer of calm in his voice. "Get away from there."

She looks up. "Huh?"

"Get away from the bear!"

The dark feeling in the air increases tenfold—haunting and unmistakable, the reiatsu of a hollow. A claw shoots out from the teddy bear and slams into Orihime's chest. Her body falls to the floor like a puppet with strings cut, while her soul is knocked across the room in a clatter of chains and hits the far wall.

"Inoue!" Ichigo cries, rushing to her. She's collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath and clutching at a chain on her chest, but otherwise seems fine. As far as he can tell, the chain is still unbroken.

"Orihime!" Tatsuki shouts. Ichigo turns to see her run towards Orihime's body.

"No!" he shouts. "Tatsuki, get away!"

A hollow is looming over her, black hair falling over a white skull mask, body ending in a long serpentine tail. Its claws reach out for her.

"Tatsuki!" Ichigo shouts. He charges reiryoku to his feet and crosses the room in a flash, one hand pushing the girl aside, the other arm raised to block the oncoming claw strike. The hollow's hand slams into him; his feet slip, and his back crashes onto the floor.

"Ichigo?" Tatsuki says. "What's going on? What… hit you?"

Ichigo picks himself off the ground, wincing. "Run," he gasps. "I can handle this. Get out of here."

Tatsuki stands her ground. "But, Ichigo! Orihime is—"

"I can handle it!"

"Like hell I'm leaving you to this thing!" Ichigo hears the sound of Tatsuki's feet approaching and turns, eyes widening.

"Tatsuki, don't—"

A stir of scales across the floorboards. He tenses and turns back to the hollow—too late. A red clawed hand slams into him, hurling him to one side. The tip of one claw tears into his chest, grating against bone, and he tastes blood in his mouth.

He crashes into the far wall with a strangled cry, slumping to the floor. He doubles over and clutches at a gash in his ribs, from which blood pours across his hand. Calling upon his powers is a risk he's gonna have to take. He shunts reiatsu to his wound and wills for it to heal.

"Ichigo!" Tatsuki cries, charging towards him with wild abandon. Ichigo reaches out a hand, trying to call out a warning, but can't with the blood choking his throat. Tatsuki runs blindly straight into the hollow, and a huge claw slams down on her and throws her to the floor. Its hand wraps around her throat, methodically cutting off her breathing as the hollow leans over her, watching her choke and struggle.

"Sora," Ichigo gasps out. The hollow freezes. Its tail lashes from side to side, each time hitting the wall of the apartment with a crash.

"Are you Sora?" Ichigo says.

It lets go of Tatsuki and turns around, leaving her to curl up on the floor and gasp for air. Glowing eyes glare at him, blank with no emotion visible past its mask.

"Kurosaki…" it growls.

Ichigo staggers to his feet, bracing against the wall. "Sora, fight it," he says, circling around the room and trying to draw its attention away from Tatsuki. "This isn't you."

The hollow turns its head to follow him, leaving Orihime to crawl across the room to Tatsuki's side. "What do you understand?" it roars, tail thrashing. "You took Orihime away from me!"

It lunges, mouth gaping, straight at him. Ichigo tenses, black reiatsu swirling around his hands and arms. He swings a hand, sending out a black crescent wave. He veers his aim to one side at the last second and it clips Sora's mask, sending him reeling backwards with a roar of pain.

"Damn you!" he roars, tail thrashing. He opens his mouth, and before Ichigo realizes what he's doing, a jet of liquid sprays from his throat and catches him across the face.

Ichigo doubles over, screaming and clutching at his face. It burns. He can't see. It hurts it hurts _get it off—_

Sora's tail hits him and slams him through the wall and out of the apartment. Dimly, he can hear Orihime screaming his name.

 _'You idiot!'_ his hollow shouts at him. _'Why'd you hold back?'_

He slams into the ground, tumbling across the rough sidewalk. Pain flares along his back, his shoulder. He calls upon instant regeneration in a panic—his eyes, heal his eyes—

Why'd he hold back, he idly wonders. _'I dunno. This one—Sora—he's…'_

 _'He's different?'_ his hollow scoffs. _'Just 'cause you knew him in life? He's no different from any of the other hollows you've fought! Slay him with your blade and send him on to the Soul Society! That's the only redemption a hollow gets!'_

Ichigo pushes himself up to a sitting position, gingerly scrubbing at his eyes. Blood smears across his hand from the burns on his face. His eyes are mostly healed, but his vision's still blurry. He shakes his head, blinking to focus them.

A familiar voice is calling out to him, footsteps pounding on the concrete. He looks up to see Rukia, who runs up to him and doubles over, gasping for breath like she ran all the way here.

"Ichigo… y—you… fool…"

She straightens up, and the look in her eyes softens. "Your face…"

"Acid," Ichigo groans, clutching at it. And if she asks, it miraculously missed his eyes.

"Are you okay?" she says. Ichigo rolls his shoulder experimentally and nods. That's apparently all the reprieve being injured gets him from a lecture, because she launches into "Ichigo, you idiot, why did you try to tackle a hollow without your shinigami powers? You could have gotten seriously hurt!"

"Inoue. Tatsuki. They're being attacked!" Ichigo tries to stand up, but Rukia clamps a hand on his shoulder and forces him back down. Her violet eyes stare into his with the severity of a snowstorm.

"You sure you're okay to go?" she asks.

Ichigo nods. She slams her gloved hand into his chest and he staggers backwards in his shinigami form, clad in robes with the weight of a sword on his back. Power swirls around him, heady and freeing, suffusing him so that he barely feels the pain of his wounds.

He leaps back up to the apartment, landing inside through the huge hole in the outside wall—sorry, Inoue—and takes in the scene in a moment. Sora is looming over Orihime, clutching her in one huge hand. She struggles wildly in his grasp.

"I saw myself fading from your heart a little more each day!" Sora cries. Orihime shakes her head, anguish plain on her face.

"No, Sora, I didn't want—"

"I was so lonely! It was unbearable!" Sora shouts. Ichigo, sensing the end of any reasonable conversation, charges with sword raised. "Sometimes, I just wanted to kill—"

Ichigo leaps into the air, swinging his sword down. Sora turns around before he reaches him, lashing out with a tail strike. Ichigo blocks the blow with the blade of his sword, skidding backwards a step as he plants his feet. With a swing of his blade, he knocks Sora's tail aside.

He charges towards Sora's hand clutching Orihime with a yell. Sora's tail whips at him again, a blur out of the corner of his eye. He leaps over it as it snaps at his legs, landing on it and levering off as Sora rears and thrashes. His sword slices through Sora's wrist, and Orihime falls from his severed hand. She's about to fall a good six feet or so, and he tries to catch her, but a claw slams into him from the side. His blade falls from his hands. He crashes along the opposite wall hard enough to crack it and lies there stunned.

"Ichigo-kun!" Orihime cries, picking herself up from the floor and running to his side. As Sora snarls and raises a clawed hand, she turns around, standing in his way with arms outstretched. Sora's arm freezes.

"Why?" he shouts. "Why do you defend him, Orihime?"

"Why?" Orihime says in a choked voice. "Ichigo-kun is my friend! Tatsuki-chan too! If you're mad at me, you can hurt me, but please don't hurt either of them! Please!"

"Inoue," Ichigo rasps, shakily picking himself up from the floor. "Get back."

She gasps and turns to him. "Ichigo-kun!" Her face crumples. "You're hurt…"

Ichigo shakes his head, straightening up. "I'm fine."

"Stand aside, Orihime!" her brother roars, and Orihime jumps and whirls around to face him. She plants her feet in front of Ichigo, lips pressed together in determination.

"I'll kill him!" Sora says. "I'll get rid of him, and the two of us will be together forever!"

Orihime looks up at him, tears hanging from her eyes. "Why? The brother I loved would never do something like this!"

Murderous rage flashes in Sora's eyes, no trace of the human left. He grabs Orihime, choking her in his claws. "How do you think I became this thing? It was all your fault!"

His fingers squeeze in a deadly vice as Orihime screams. "I'll kill you! _I'll kill you!_ "

An oncoming rush of red light slams into him and engulfs him like a wave. He howls, dropping Orihime as it hurls him into and through the opposite wall, into the next apartment over.

Ichigo steps forward, letting one extended hand fall to his side. Smoke wreaths his fingertips.

"You know why big brothers are born first?"

He walks over to where his sword lies and stomps on the blade, flipping the end up. The hilt smacks into his hand.

"To protect the little ones who come after them!"

He levels the sword at Sora, who is beginning to stir, a shadowy figure barely visible through a cloud of smoke. "What kind of a brother says he'll kill his own sister? Even a monster shouldn't say that!"

Sora roars, a sound that shakes the apartment and knocks more dust from the cracked walls. He pulls himself back through the wall with one hand. The side of his body is covered with burns, noticeably hampering his movement.

"You don't understand anything! I saved Orihime and raised her! She belongs to me! I won't let anyone else have her!"

He charges at Ichigo, mouth open. Ichigo blocks his teeth with the edge of his sword, bracing it with one hand and skidding backwards. "As if," he says through gritted teeth. "Inoue is Inoue. She doesn't belong to anyone!"

"She's mine! Mine only!" Sora's claws slam into Ichigo, tearing a deep gash in his side and sending him tumbling across the floor. "I lived only for her! But she won't live for me! In that case, she can die for me!"

He turns and charges at Orihime, standing right behind him.

"No!" Ichigo cries. He scrambles to get to his feet. "NO!

Orihime stands her ground. Bittersweet longing and regret reflect in her eyes. At the last second, instead of dodging, she holds out her hands to her brother.

His teeth sink into her body. Sora freezes, Orihime's arms wrapped around his head, her blood splattering his mask. His eyes widen, clear and human once more.

"Inoue," Ichigo whispers. She doesn't flinch despite the pain, the injuries. She falls to her knees, still embracing her brother.

"Orihime," Sora says. She slumps against him.

"I'm sorry, Sora," she says quietly. "I just… wanted to share them with you. Fun things. The things I liked. The people I liked. I didn't want you to see my pain, so I hid it from you! I only shared my happiness with you! So you wouldn't suffer for me!"

Her head drops, hair casting over her eyes. "I didn't realize it made you feel lonely. I never wanted to hurt you, Sora."

"Orihime…" Sora whispers. She gives him a watery smile.

"I love you, Sora."

She slumps sideways to the floor. "Inoue!" Ichigo cries. He flashes forward and catches her. Sora, behind him, doesn't move, doesn't strike even with Ichigo's back to him.

Orihime lies in his hands, blood dripping from ragged bite wounds in her shoulder and chest. Ichigo kneels next to her, hating the feeling of helplessness that wells up inside him more than any enemy he's ever fought. He wishes he could heal, wishes more than anything, and it's not for the first time.

"It's not too late!" A voice jolts him out of his thoughts. He looks up to find Rukia standing in the room, scuffed and panting. "She can still be saved!"

* * *

 _It seems like when you give Ichigo hollow powers, what you end up with is extra holes in the walls._

 _Well, the next apartment was empty anyways. What? It's canon!_

 _Please review, reviews are the best!_


	6. a boy and his parakeet

"Rukia," Ichigo whispers, looking up at the figure who'd just arrived.

She strides forward. "The chain of fate is still connected! I can save her with my kidou!"

Ichigo stares at her in shock as she kneels next to Orihime. He doesn't remember to move until she brusquely shoos him out of the way, focused on Orihime with a grave expression. Ichigo stands up and backs off several steps.

"Orihime…" Sora says, staring down at her unconscious features. He doesn't seem inclined to attack, so Ichigo allows himself to relax a degree.

"Orihime, I know you stopped praying so you wouldn't worry me," Sora says softly. "But I didn't want you to stop. While you were praying, your heart was all mine."

Ichigo is silent. He feels like an outsider in his grief. His eyes follow the line of Sora's sight.

"Those hairpins were a gift from you, weren't they?" He looks down at the small blue crystal flowers nestled in Orihime's hair. "She told me it was the first gift you ever gave her. She still wears it every day."

Sora looks shocked. The pain in his eyes—Ichigo has seen it before, more times than anyone really should.

"It's the same," he says. "The ones who die and the ones who are left behind. The sadness is the same."

Sora stares down at Orihime, at Rukia single-mindedly focused on a kidou to heal her. "I didn't know," he says quietly. "I thought she threw them away."

He straightens up and turns away, moving around her to where Ichigo had dropped his sword without realizing it. He picks it up by the blade, dragging it with a metallic scraping sound along the floor.

"Wait, stop!" Ichigo says, taking an aborted step forward. "What are you doing?"

Sora raises the blade and turns it on himself. Its tip slices through his mask, shattering it into white fragments that clatter against the floor, revealing the kinder face of the young man he had seen on Orihime's picture.

Ichigo reaches out a hand as if to act, but hesitates. "Are you sure?" he says.

Sora nods. "If I stay like this, I'll lose myself again and attack Orihime. That's why, in this moment of sanity, I want to pass on… as myself."

Ichigo opens his mouth, but he has nothing to say. He wonders, what it would be like to know he tried to attack his sisters? To know he might do so again, might not be able to stop himself a second time?

"Okay," he says, feeling suddenly weary. "Find peace on the other side."

Sora smiles slightly. He leans over Orihime, drinking in the image of her face gentled in sleep. "Goodbye, Orihime," he whispers.

Ichigo had thought Orihime was unconscious, but her eyes flicker open and meet her brother's.

"Sora, I never got to tell you this. I thought I'd lost the chance forever." She takes a shaky breath, smiling wanly up at Sora. "Sora… have a nice day."

Sora's eyes widen. His smile holds sadness and pure joy as his form fades away into the night sky. Orihime pushes herself up awkwardly from the ground, watching even after he disappears, even after nothing is left to see except for the stars shining silently above.

"Your wounds are healed, mostly," Rukia says. Her words, though quiet, manage to break the spell cast around them.

Orihime blinks and shrugs her left shoulder experimentally. "Hey, woah! It's all better!"

Rukia sucks in a breath. " _No_ , it's not all better, you shouldn't move it—"

"Oh, it doesn't matter!" Orihime says. "I have so many questions I want to—"

Rukia, with a perfectly straight face, pulls out a gadget from her pocket and flicks it in Orihime's face with a miniature explosion. Orihime slumps to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"Hey!" Ichigo says. "What did you do?!"

Rukia waves the springy duck head on it in his face. "Memory replacement device. All her memories of tonight will be erased and replaced with random memories."

"Random?" Ichigo says.

Rukia waves a hand. "You'll see."

* * *

Seeing Orihime ramble on about a sumo wrestler with a bazooka at school next morning, Ichigo feels unexpectedly glad that his sisters got the truck explanation. But not by much.

 _'Hey, it's better than her remembering who_ actually _put those holes through her walls.'_ The hollow gives him a mental nudge. _'If I recall correctly, both times it was you. What an achievement, eh?'_

Ichigo winces at the recollection. _'Hey, that's not fair. The first one was totally Sora's fault!'_

 _'Yeah, Sora throwing_ you _through the wall.'_

 _'I can't exactly help that!'_ Ichigo says.

The hollow rolls his eyes. _'Yes, you can. By dodging.'_

Ichigo scowls down at the table, snarling insults under his breath. There is a tap on his shoulder. Ichigo starts and glances back. "What?"

Rukia is giving him a puzzled look. "You okay?"

"Of course," Ichigo says. "What, why?"

"You were muttering something."

"I'm fine," Ichigo grumbles. He slouches against his desk as the bell for class rings

* * *

Rukia accompanies him to his usual spot on the roof at lunch, which is what she's been doing for the past few days. She says it's in case of hollow attacks, but that's not going to stop the rest of the school from spreading annoying rumors about how often they've been together lately.

Take Mizuiro, who Ichigo eyes as he walks up. "Hey," the boy says, plopping himself down next to him with a lunchbox in hand. "Together again? You two must be in love or something."

"In love?" Ichigo says. "Give me a break."

Rukia nudges him. "Ichigo."

"What?" he says, turning an irritated look on her. She's unfazed.

She holds up a juice box. "How do I drink this?"

"Huh? You just poke the straw in it."

"Straw?" She turns it over in her hands, looking mystified. Ichigo sighs.

"May I, Kuchiki-chan?" Rukia looks up to see Mizuiro holding out a hand. She blinks.

"Oh. Why, thank you… Kojima-san." She hands over her juice box.

He gives her a bright smile. "You remember my name! And we weren't even introduced." He sticks the straw in the drink and hands it back to Rukia. "The name's Kojima Mizuiro, fifteen years old. Pleased to meet you."

"Careful, Rukia," Ichigo says, taking a sip of his own juice. "He's a serial womanizer."

"What? No!" Mizuiro says, looking aghast. "Anyway, I only go after older women. I'm harmless to girls my age."

"Yeah," Ichigo says. "Like I said, be careful."

Mizuiro looks confused. Rukia also looks confused, but she's frowning down at the straw in her drink and might not be listening to the conversation at all.

"What's up, guys?" Ichigo looks up to see Keigo round a corner and nods at him. Keigo glances around. "Chad's not here?"

"No," Ichigo says, "haven't seen him all day—"

Keigo immediately stops listening, pointing at Rukia with an overwrought gasp. "Woah! Is that the beautiful new transfer student I see? What are you doing here?"

Rukia looks up, seemingly bewildered.

"Ichigo invited her!" Mizuiro says with a guileless smile. Ichigo glares at him.

"He did?" Keigo cries. He claps a hand on Ichigo's shoulder and gives him a thumbs up. "Good job!"

"Uh," Ichigo says, leaning back. Keigo turns his attention to Rukia before Ichigo can think of a suitable way to deny it. Ichigo tunes him out and leaves her to it.

Why hasn't Chad shown up? The question had been bothering him all morning. Chad rarely misses school, and Ichigo can't imagine him ever getting sick. Has something happened? Ichigo's feeling paranoid about his friends after Orihime and Tatsuki got caught up in that fight the other day.

Ichigo forces himself to relax. Chad's sturdy and, out of his friends, the one most likely to survive anything thrown at him. Worrying constantly won't do any good.

 _'You're overthinking it,'_ his hollow says. _'His reiatsu's still there.'_

So it is. Ichigo sighs, leaning back against the fence.

Keigo yelps. Ichigo glances up to see him stumble forward a step, rubbing at his back. He looks behind him and gulps.

A larger blonde-haired boy with a pierced lip shoves him out of the way and glares down at Ichigo. "Hey, Kurosaki," he says with a sneer.

Ichigo raises an eyebrow. _'Who's that guy?'_

The hollow scoffs. _'All I care is, he's dead meat if he doesn't get out of our way.'_

Ichigo wonders why he ever expects the voice in his head to help.

"Oushima!" Keigo yelps, quickly backing away. "You're off suspension!"

Oh. It's Oushima. Ichigo vaguely remembers this guy.

Oushima swaggers forward. Ichigo tries to ignore him and eat his lunch.

"Kurosaki, when you gonna dye your hair black?" the boy says. "Why ya always trying to look like me?"

Ichigo slowly lowers his sandwich, glaring at him. "Who'd want to look like you, freak? This is my natural hair color."

"Who do you think you're calling freak?" says Oushima. "I don't want any of that damn attitude!"

"Okay," Ichigo says quietly, slowly putting his sandwich and drink down. He stands, drawing to his full height, posture relaxed in readiness for a fight. "What _do_ you want?"

"I'm gonna put you in your place!" Oushima says, stepping forward. "You gonna regret messing with me!"

Keigo leaps in between them, holding out his arms. "Woah, woah, woah! We don't need to fight, right, guys?"

"Keigo," Ichigo says. The boy turns to him.

"Get out of the way," Ichigo says. Keigo "eep"s and scrambles away from the two of them, throwing out an "I'm not involved in this!" over his shoulder.

Ichigo gives Oushima a sharp smirk. "You just got back from suspension. Isn't it too soon to get put on medical leave?"

"Why, you!" He reaches into a pocket. Ichigo tenses, shifting his weight back.

He slips a set of brass knuckles onto his right hand and leers at Ichigo, brandishing them. "There's no begging for mercy now! You're dead!"

A muscle twitches in his jaw as Ichigo looks staunchly unimpressed. He's had people pull knives, guns, swords, and flying sandal kicks on him, and this hardly even bears mention. It's not like he was planning on taking any hits, anyway.

Oushima raises his fist. "Let's see who sends who to the hos—"

Ichigo isn't focused on him, but on the huge figure who walks up behind him, raising an arm at Oushima and batting him aside like a ball. He's sent tumbling across the roof until he slams into the far wall.

Ichigo grins and raises a hand. "Hey, Chad."

"Mm." The larger boy nods in response.

Ichigo sits back down with a sigh, lounging back on his hands. "Well, thanks for that. Now maybe I can actually have a relaxing lunch."

He narrows his eyes, looking Chad over. His expression immediately turns serious. "Hey, what's with the bandages?"

"Oh." Chad fingers the ones around his head. "Yesterday, an I-beam fell on me."

"An I-beam?!"

Chad nods like it's a perfectly normal occurrence. He holds up his hand. "And today, I ran into a motorcycle."

Ichigo winces. "Jeez, Chad! Are you okay?"

"Mm," Chad says. "I'm fine. The guy riding it got hurt pretty bad. So I carried him to the hospital."

"Wow," Ichigo mutters. Sometimes, he wonders if this guy is human. Even so…

He frowns at Chad. "Have you been having a lot of… accidents and stuff lately?"

Chad grunts. "Sort of. Maybe it's this." He leans down, slinging something off his shoulders. It makes a metallic clang as he sets it on the ground.

Ichigo crouches on the ground next to it. It's a birdcage, with a parakeet perched inside it blinking up at him curiously.

"Woah," Keigo says, crowding up next to him. "Where'd you get the bird?"

"Mm. Around," Chad says.

"Aw, come on!" Keigo cries. "You can't just say that! Tell us the whole story, bro!" He turns to Ichigo. "Hey, ask him what— ...uh, something wrong, Ichigo?"

Ichigo has a hand on the birdcage and is staring intently at the parakeet inside. The bird's starting to act nervous under his gaze, making quick jerky hops on its perch and fluttering its wings. Strange. It looks and acts like a bird, but it certainly doesn't feel like one to his senses.

 _'There's a plus soul in there,'_ his hollow says. _'It's inhabiting or completely possessing the bird.'_

"Ichigo, why are you staring at the bird?" Keigo says. "You're scaring it!"

"Huh? Oh, I guess so." Ichigo leans back from it, sitting cross-legged on the ground next to it. "So, Chad. You were saying something about the bird?"

"A guy gave it to me," Chad says. "Said it was cursed."

"Cursed…" Ichigo says. "And now you've been getting injured?"

"I'm okay," Chad says.

"Hey," Keigo claps a hand on Ichigo's shoulder. He gives Ichigo a nudge. "Don't tell me you believe in this curse talk. You're scaring me, okay? I never thought you'd be into the occult and all—you didn't seem the type, y'know, but lately you've been acting kinda..."

Ichigo grunts, barely acknowledging the conversation. He leans back and surreptitiously bumps Rukia with an elbow. Her head snaps up. "What?"

Ichigo indicates the bird with a nod. She barely gives it a glance. "It's fine," she says, taking a sip of her juice. Oh look, she's mastered it. "We can konsou it tonight."

"But," Ichigo says.

She raises her voice, making it more high-pitched. "Oh, Kurosaki-kun, don't tell me you're worried about some curse! You shouldn't let that stuff get to you! Look, it's just a harmless little bird!"

Ichigo growls under his breath. He leans away from her and slouches against the wall, making a show of ignoring her.

She peers at the cage, poking a piece of bread through the bars. "Oh, you're a cute little one, aren't you? Won't you tell me your name?"

The parakeet flaps its wings. "Hi, onee-san! My name is Shibata Yuuichi. It's nice to meet you!"

Ichigo raises an eyebrow, straightening up. So much for acting like a normal bird.

* * *

 _Please review! Reviews are the best!_


	7. hunting hunters

Ichigo sighs, closing the door of his room behind him. He tosses his backpack on a nearby chair and sinks onto his bed.

His closet door crashes open. He leaps to his feet, whirling around.

Rukia hops out of his closet, waving a cell phone at him. "Ichigo! It took you long enough."

Ichigo levels a finger at her. "You're in my closet!"

"That doesn't matter. We have an order!" She makes a palm thrust at his chest with a gloved hand.

" _Woah_ , hold on!" Ichigo catches her hand by the wrist. "What do you mean it doesn't matter? What the hell were you doing in there? Have you been sneaking around my room?"

"I'll have you know I haven't done anything," Rukia sniffs. Her expression becomes serious again. "We can deal with this later. The hollow is most likely after your friend."

"What?" Ichigo's eyes widen. "Tell me sooner! Where?"

* * *

Chad glances around, waiting for the light to change, and dashes across the crosswalk when it does. He cradles the birdcage in his arms. It's about the length of Ichigo's forearm, but seems like a toy next to him. He has his eyes down, focused on running, but glances up at a screeching sound of brakes. His eyes widen. A wildly swerving car is careening straight towards him.

"Chad!"

Ichigo tackles Chad from the side, shoving him out of the way. Chad goes sprawling on the ground, Ichigo scrambling up next to him. Behind them, the car barrels into the hubcap of another with a deafening crunch of metal. Ichigo winces.

"Chad! Are you okay?"

Chad picks himself up off the ground, careful of his birdcage. He rubs at his head, his eyes skipping over Ichigo entirely. "What… hit me?"

Oh, yeah. Invisible.

Chad's eyes widen as they look past Ichigo to see the two-car wreck now blocking up half the street. The first car's hood is near completely crumpled, smoke pouring out from under it. Other cars behind it skid to a stop, swerving to avoid the blockage.

Rukia lands in front of Ichigo from a flying leap off a car roof, running at Chad. "C'mon! We have to get out of here."

Chad blinks. "New girl?"

She grabs him by the arm as she runs past, not slowing down. "No time for explanations. Let's go!"

* * *

"Um, new girl?" Chad says, jogging after Rukia so she won't have to drag him, something that wouldn't be very successful anyway. "What's happening? Where are we going?"

Rukia glances around, then slows to a stop, gasping for breath.

"Okay. I don't think it followed us." She looks around again, frowning. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo hops down from a roof and lands next to her. "Followed us? Are you sure there even was a hollow?"

Rukia crosses her arms. "Certain! Just because you can't—"

"Uh, new girl?" Chad says, following her sight but finding nothing. "Are you talking to Ichigo?"

"Don't worry about it," she says.

Chad peers down at her from behind his fringe of hair. "You said it was following me. Do you know something?"

"Well, that depends on what you think I know," Rukia says airily.

"Can you see ghosts?" Chad says.

Not a flicker of emotion shows on Rukia's face as she looks over Chad with an analytic eye. Rukia's poker face is really something to be reckoned with, Ichigo thinks.

"Hm," she says. "That's an intriguing idea. Where did you get that from?"

Chad lifts the parakeet cage in his hand a few inches. "Yuuichi. He said he was a little boy. Said he was being chased by a monster."

Ichigo notices the black eyes of the bird set straight on him. He walks up to it, furrowing his brow.

"What's going on?" he says. The bird huddles under him as if trying to shrink. "You… Do you know something?"

"I'm sorry!" the bird cries, flapping its wings. The tips clip the bars of the cage, knocking one or two feathers loose. "I'm really, really sorry, mister, it's all my fault!"

"Hey, it's okay," Ichigo says, softening his expression. He reaches a hand toward the cage, unsure on what to do. "Calm down, okay? If there's a problem, I'll deal with it."

"No! You can't!" it says. "He'll get you! You're in danger, and it's all because of me!"

Chad is watching the bird very carefully. "Who… are you talking to?"

"He's your friend!" It turns to him and raises its wings earnestly. "The one you asked about. He's got a sword and he's wearing black like that nice man who tried to help me."

Chad frowns. "Ichigo?"

"Yeah, hey, Chad," Ichigo says somewhat awkwardly. He frowns at the parakeet. What had it said? Another shinigami talked to it, but the soul in the parakeet hasn't been konsou'd yet…

"Ichigo is a ghost?" Chad says to Rukia.

Rukia waves a hand. "He's part-time." She walks up to the cage next to Ichigo. "Yuuichi, what were you just saying? There was another man who tried to help you?"

Yuuichi drops his gaze to the ground. "There were two. They said they would fight the monster, but— _but—_ " He shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "I told them to run away, but neither of them listened. They said it was their duty. But I didn't ever see either of them again!"

The bird's tiny body is trembling. He buries his head under one wing, his voice muffled. "They tried to fight but it got them. There was a lot of blood, and screaming, and explosions, and the monster was laughing! And you guys have been really nice to me, and… and I don't want the same thing to happen to any of you!"

"Yuuichi," Chad says quietly.

Ichigo nods. He straightens up, brushing off his knees. "Don't worry about it, Yuuichi." He turns to Rukia. "Where's the hollow?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia snaps. "I'm not sure if you understand how serious this is. This hollow's managed to kill at least two shinigami. It's on a completely different level from the weak ones you've been dealing with."

Ichigo waves a hand, tilting his head back at her. "Oh, don't worry about it." His lips curl into a humorless smirk. "I'm on a different level too."

He leans down and rests a hand on the parakeet cage. Yuuichi shifts his wing aside, worried eyes peeking up at him. He gives the boy a reassuring smile. "It won't get me. I'll take out the monster for you, okay?"

The parakeet sniffles and hangs his head. "Be careful, mister. Please."

"Um, Ichigo," Chad says.

"Huh?" Ichigo glances up. Chad's eyes are focused on the parakeet instead of him. He hesitates, looking puzzled or maybe skeptical about talking to someone who's not there.

He finally addresses Yuuichi. "Is Ichigo gonna fight the monster?"

The parakeet nods morosely. "I want to help," Chad says.

Ichigo sucks in a breath. "No, you can't! It's not—" He looks to Rukia. Truth be told, he's getting fed up with being passed over in conversation.

"Chad," Rukia steps forward, "you have to understand, a hollow is beyond a human's ability to combat. However you feel about this, you must leave the job to Ichigo and me."

"I'm tough," Chad says. "I can handle it."

"You can't even see it!" Ichigo says in frustration.

"Exactly," Rukia says. "You won't be able to see it." Her voice softens. "Please, trust the two of us. We've done this before and, now that we know this hollow is coming, we can make a plan."

Chad nods slowly.

"A plan?" Ichigo says. "What for?"

She points her nose in the air and gives him a you're-being-dumb look. "Why? Because our hollow vanished right after the attack, and we have no idea where it is!"

"Wait, so you can't even find it?" Ichigo waves a hand at her. "I thought your fancy shinigami phone told you."

"It doesn't work that way, you fool," she snaps. "We cannot detect hollows until they emerge into the physical realm. That's why we must wait for orders from the Soul Society."

She whips out a small notepad and a marker from her pocket. "Here, allow me to demonstrate."

"No, no, that's okay—"

"Observe," she says, drawing a circle and scribbling in a black area around it. Chad steps forward as if interested, and she soon has herself a miniature audience of him and Yuuichi. "When hollows are not in the World of the Living hunting, they hide out in the boundary dimension between this one and Hueco Mundo. They cannot be detected there, only when they're about to emerge into this world."

Chad leans closer, peering at the paper. "...Is that a hollow?"

Ichigo crosses his arms. "That's a bear. Seriously, I've never seen anyone whose drawings—"

He gets a magic marker brandished in his face. " _What_ about my drawings?"

"Nothing about your drawings!"

Rukia looks away. "Hmph. Moving on with the plan." She flips a page of the sketchbook and taps her marker on it absently. "We need a way to trap or lure the hollow. It's probably hiding because it doesn't want to face us head-on in combat." She looks up sharply. "But there's one question I have. Why is it so intent on pursuing Yuuichi?"

"I dunno," Ichigo says. "Doesn't seem like it's to eat him. More like it's using him for—" He trails off awkwardly, deciding it's maybe not the best idea to call a little boy 'bait' to his face.

"He hurt my mom," Yuuichi says quietly. "I made him fall and he died, but he came back and wanted revenge." He hangs his head. "He put me in the bird and said that if I escaped from him for three months, he would bring my mom back to life. But… everyone who helps me gets eaten by him!"

Rukia stiffens. "He said he would do _what_? "

"It's a lie," Ichigo says, a cold fury held in his voice. He's glaring down at the ground, clenching and unclenching his fists. "He can't bring back the dead. No one can."

The parakeet blinks and the beginnings of tears gleam in his eyes. "Then, I won't ever see my mom again?"

"In the afterlife," Rukia says with a gentle smile. "She'll be waiting for you there."

Yuuichi sniffs. "I miss my mom."

"It'll be fine," Ichigo says. "Just you wait, we're gonna get rid of this hollow so you can rest in peace."

"There's something you have to know about it," Yuuichi says. "It can make explosions with—"

Rukia jumps as a beeping starts up from her cell phone. She snatches it out of her pocket. "The hollow's here! It's—" She pales, staring down at the phone screen. Ichigo cranes his neck, trying to get a look.

She looks up at him, eyes frantic. "Ichigo, it's headed for your house!"

Ichigo freezes. He snatches the phone from her hand and stares at the blue glow of the screen. It seems to take a long time for his eyes to interpret the figures and the blinking dot on the map.

"Shit." The phone trembles in his hand. He turns, tosses it at Rukia without looking. "I'm going!"

She nods. "We'll catch up."

Ichigo is already gone in a blur of flash step.

* * *

Ichigo leaps from the roof of his house down to the street.

"Dammit." He shoulders his sword. "Where the heck is that hollow, anyway?"

He tenses, then whirls around, swinging his sword in an arc of steel. It bisects three tiny hollows in mid-leap. Ichigo hops backwards as their bodies fall to the ground in a wet splatter.

"What the heck?" He pokes tentatively at the slimy globs spilling out from the bodies and squirming on the ground. The hollows have no innards or blood, just a clear fluid. They all look identical, too.

He whirls around as another one jumps at him, intercepting it with his forearm and grabbing hold of it. It shrieks and a glob of liquid shoots from its forehead at him. He ducks, tossing the hollow aside, but the spray catches him across the shoulder and arm.

"Gah!" He shakes off his arm with a shudder. The wriggling things cling on stubbornly. He grabs onto one of them, digging his fingers in to get a grip on its slimy body, and tugs on it to feel a sharp stab of pain from its teeth hooked in his skin. "Leeches?"

The one in his hand is crushed in a spray of dripping goo. "You're not gonna get me that easily."

He shakes off his hand, looking around. "What are these things, anyway?"

 _'Not hollows.'_

Another one leaps at Ichigo from atop a wall. He impales it with his sword and pins its body to the floor. It flails its claws at him, hissing and squeaking.

 _'See? They don't have reiatsu of their own.'_

"Huh." Ichigo leans closer, studying the creature. "How does that work?"

 _'It's more of a collective, or… ah, I see. Its reiatsu is connected to some other hollow, probably the one controlling it.'_

Ichigo looks around. _'It's nowhere near here,'_ his hollow says.

A door creaks open behind him. Ichigo turns around to see Karin standing in the doorway, head poked out and looking annoyed. Her eyes widen as she catches sight of him.

* * *

Rukia hears feet pounding on the sidewalk behind her, even over the gasp of her own breath. "Chad," she says, not turning around. "You're coming?"

Chad grunts in assent. Rukia is silent for several seconds, her eyes fixed on the ground as she runs.

"It'll be dangerous," she says.

"I know."

They go on running without more words. Rukia flips open her phone as they come to the next intersection, glancing at the map. Her steps slow.

"It's gone," she says, frowning at it. "Is Ichigo there already?"

Something behind her brushes at the edge of her senses. She skids to a stop, then whirls around. "Chad! Something is—"

A crack of pain hits her head, and when her sight clears she's lying on the hard concrete and blinking spots out of her eyes. She hears Chad's footsteps as he runs back towards her, but mostly she's paying attention to the shadow looming over her. Her eyes focus on the familiar sight of a leering white mask.

"What a shame," the hollow says. "The little gang's all split up. And with no shinigami here to protect you, what will you do now, girl?"

* * *

 _(Ichigo: Oh, hey Karin. Just a hypothetical question, how do you get leeches off you?_

 _Yuzu: I'll go look it up~!_

 _Karin: I dunno, maybe you burn them off you. Or do you put salt on them? Wait, no, that's slugs._

 _Ichigo: If you don't know, then why are you saying?_

 _Karin: Ah! You impale them through the heart with a wooden stake!_

 _Ichigo: That's vampires!)_

 _Please review, reviews are the best!_


	8. tag-teaming

Rukia rolls over and vaults to her feet, stumbling a step as a rush of dizziness hits her. "Stay back, Chad!" she cries.

"What's going on?" he says. To her relief, he's hanging about somewhere a few meters behind her, not coming any closer.

"It's here," she says.

"That's right," the hollow says. "Tell your friend to stay out of the way. Let's have ourselves a nice chase, shall we?"

Rukia takes a breath, raises her hands. She gathers up all the reiatsu she has, a shadow of her usual power. "Ruler! Mask of flesh and blood, all creation, flutter of wings! Ye who bears the name of man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams, unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws!"

She points her palm at the hollow, aiming straight for its mask. "Hadou #33: Soukatsui!"

A flash of blue light streaks from her hand. The hollow's head snaps back from an explosion, smoke surrounding it. Her aim is dead-on, with a powerful enough spell to vaporize most hollows. Surely…

"What was that?"

Its head emerges from the pall of smoke, jaw snapping for her. She tumbles across the sidewalk to avoid it, but its teeth clip her across one shoulder. She claps a hand on it, feeling blood.

No, it can't be. It had no effect? That was her best shot, and she doesn't think she can fire another.

"I recognise that," the hollow says. "It's a shinigami spell, isn't it? But that one had no bite!"

Rukia stands up, backing away and breathing hard. "Chad, run," she says in a low voice.

"You're hurt," he says.

"Never mind me," Rukia says. "I'm experienced, remember?"

"What?" The hollow cocks its head. "You mean to say you're a shinigami? You feel so weak I didn't even notice. I should've gone after your friend!"

Its hand snatches her around the neck, slamming her back into a wall. She grits her teeth, prying at its fingers as its grip tightens. The hollow's hot breath is upon her. "What's wrong, girl? Ditch the meat suit and let's fight for real!"

She gasps for breath, struggling against the vice of its fingers. Suddenly, she hears the smack of a fist on flesh, and the crushing weight disappears. A shadow falls over her and she looks up to see Chad, one fist extended, blinking in apparent bewilderment.

"You got it, mister!" A bird perching on his shoulder flaps its wings. "That was amazing!"

"Mm," Chad says, staring down at his hand and flexing it.

"What? How?" the hollow squawks. "You shouldn't be able to see ghosts!"

The bird stiffens, waving his wings again. "It's getting up!"

"Hm? Where?" Chad throws a few experimental punches, hitting nothing but air.

"You have to get closer!" Yuuichi cries. "No, to the left!"

The hollow gives its head a shake, wiping at its mouth. "So, that's what it was, eh? He's swinging in the dark, and the kid's guiding him! Yah!" It ducks its head as Chad's fist whistles through the air where it was.

"Almost!" says Yuuichi. The hollow growls, slinking backwards.

"You're getting pretty lucky, aren't you? Well, I'm done playing this game!"

It raises its arms, spreading bat-like wings with a sound like the snap of canvas. With a leap, it's high above the street and soaring over the roofs of the surrounding houses. "Just try to hit me now, tough guy!"

Chad continues to swing at empty space. "No, no!" Yuuichi cries. "He's in the air!"

He looks up. "Where?"

"He's too far for you to hit! There's no way you'll get him now!"

Chad stands still, turning in a circle and evaluating every piece of scenery around him. "What are you doing?" Rukia says. "You have to run, Chad!"

"It's okay," Chad says. "I've got something."

He walks over to the nearest telephone pole and rests a hand against it. "Tell me which direction from here."

"What are you going to do?" Rukia says.

"Mm." He wraps his arms around the pole, bracing his feet and pulling backwards. "This."

Yuuichi hops off his shoulder, fluttering in a circle and perching atop a nearby wall. As Chad's back strains, the wooden trunk creaks, then splinters. With a heaving wrench and a yell, he snaps the entire pole free and lifts it into the air.

"Which way?"

"Woah!" Yuuichi says. "Um— In front of you, straight down!"

"What?!" the hollow shrieks, just before Chad swings the beam down, catching it across the collarbone and hammering it into the ground. It flails like a downed bird underneath the pole.

Rukia snaps her gaping mouth shut. "You got him," she breathes.

Chad leaves the pole and steps back, dusting off his hands. Yuuichi lands back on his shoulder.

"Is it dead?" Chad asks.

Rukia shakes her head. "But Ichigo should be here soon. We just have to keep it pinned until then."

She takes out her phone, frowning at the display. "Where is Ichigo, anyway? The hollow he was after is gone. Was it a fluke?"

On the ground, the hollow begins to chuckle. "What's so funny?" Rukia says, looking from her phone to it.

"That's not what it is," the hollow says. "Don't you wonder just how I managed to kill and eat two shinigami?"

"What do you mean?" Rukia says, standing over it. "Talk!"

Its chuckles sound like grating rocks. "Cause it never occurs to you shinigami that I might have friends!"

A weight thumps into the center of Rukia's back, knocking her to the ground. Just as she struggles to get up, more land on her shoulders and legs. She looks up to see a handful of tiny hollows crouching on her and staring down at her with beady eyes.

"Oof!" Chad is brought down next to her. Yuuichi flutters up, several feathers tumbling free, flapping through the air on a haphazard path and not gaining much height.

"Get him!" the hollow shouts, standing up as several of his minions roll the log off him. The small hollows chase after Yuuichi with a chorus of squeaks and one makes a flying leap, bringing the bird down and flattening him to the floor with wings spread.

"Yuuichi!" Chad pushes himself off the floor, knocking hollows away like bowling pins.

"What?!" the hollow screeches. "Brute strength won't get you everywhere, you fool!"

Chad runs towards Yuuichi. The hollow perched on top of the bird turns to him, crouching with a hiss. "Help me!" Yuuichi cries. "It's on me!"

Chad stumbles mid-stride as one of the small hollows hit his back, exploding in a shower of leeches and off-color liquid. He turns, brushing at his skin where the leeches cling on. "What's this?"

The hollow extends its tongue and lets out a shrill whistle. The few leeches on Chad's skin, and the greater number wriggling in the puddle at his feet, explode in bursts of smoke. Chad stumbles a step back from the force, and blood begins to flow from his arms.

"Not another step," the hollow says, hefting another one of its minions. "Maybe you can just stand there after my attack like you're made of stone, but I doubt the kid would be the same!"

"Don't move, Chad!" Rukia says. "He'll blow Yuuichi up!"

"Well, now that he's out of the way…" The hollow turns to Rukia. "We can keep playing without more interruptions. Let's see how fast you can run, little shinigami!"

The small hollows leap away from Rukia. She stands up, rubbing at her shoulder. "Hmph." She smirks. "You're overconfident."

* * *

"Ichi-nii?"

Ichigo wonders why Karin looks so shocked, before he realizes this is the first time she's seen him in his shinigami form. He really should've explained this to her—both his sisters—from the beginning, but it was just so much easier to leave the issue aside.

 _'Oh, I know why you didn't tell,'_ his hollow drawls.

"Uh, Karin…" Ichigo flails for something to say. He tries to gauge her reaction, but her face is stony and unreadable.

"Is it Ichigo?" Yuzu's voice calls from inside the house.

"No, it's just some shinigami," Karin calls back. "He kind of looks a lot like Ichigo, but it couldn't be him, because I could've sworn our brother wasn't a shinigami."

"Hey!" Ichigo says.

"Ka- _rin_ , don't joke!" Yuzu's feet patter across the floor. She arrives in the doorway and pokes her head out from behind Karin. After a while of squinting in Ichigo's general direction, she says, "Oh. That does look like Ichigo."

She turns to Karin. "What's Ichi-nii doing as a shinigami?"

"I dunno," Karin says. "I was kind of waiting for him to tell me himself."

"I'm killing hollows," Ichigo says flatly. He kicks a dead hollow across the floor. "See?"

"Yeah, I _see_ ," Karin says, looking about as unimpressed as Ichigo's demonstration warrants. "I thought you killed hollows all the time, but now you decide you want a change of costume?"

"What's wrong?" Ichigo says. "Now I have the authority to slay hollows. It's one less thing to worry about, right?"

Karin crosses her arms. "I thought you had to be dead to access your shinigami powers."

"I'm not dead," Ichigo says, "though you sound very concerned."

"Then where'd you get the powers from?"

Ichigo runs a hand through his hair. "I met a shinigami a few days ago. We were fighting a hollow together, and she—"

"This was when the truck crashed into our house," Karin says.

"Yeah."

"It wasn't really a truck."

"Yeah."

"Why don't we remember that night?" Karin says. "Did the shinigami do it?"

Ichigo sighs. "All you need to know is she lent me her powers and I've been helping her. I'll tell you more later, but I really need to get somewhere now." His expression darkens. "I think she might be in trouble."

He turns away when Karin gives no response, closing his eyes and casting out his senses. He slowly filters through the jumbled energies in the town, hunting for the elusive thread of reiatsu connected to the hollow at his feet and tracing it to its source.

"We'll be waiting for that explanation," Karin says when he opens his eyes. "Don't get yourself injured."

Ichigo looks back. Karin has a long-suffering smile on her face. Next to her, Yuzu is leaning over her shoulder and waving at him with a grin.

Ichigo nods and leaps away in a flash step.

* * *

The hollow's whistle splits the air. An explosion hits Rukia's calf, blood splattering on the ground. She cries out and stumbles, falling to one knee on the floor.

The hollow throws its head back in laughter. "Go, run! I'll have some fun hunting you down before I catch you and eat you. And then it'll be the big guy over there, and then it'll be your foolish orange-haired friend!"

"Rukia!" Chad says. "Are you okay?"

Rukia gets to her feet, legs trembling. "I'm fine," she says, brushing sweat-matted hair out of her face. She straightens up, and her lips quirk in a smile. "Everything's going to be fine."

"What?" the hollow says. "You think you know something I don't?"

"Yes," Rukia says. "That you've stalled too long."

The hollow wavers in its steps. Just as it decides to call Rukia's bluff and go after her, the dull thump of flash step rings out behind it. A black-cloaked figure leaps into the air, sword swinging, red and black reiatsu crackling around him.

The hollow turns around with a hiss. "So it's you! How inconvenient."

As it raises its arm, a blur of black shoots past it. Steel flashes in the sun. It howls as blood sprays from its shoulder, as its arm falls to the ground with a thud, splattering blood everywhere.

"Rukia," Ichigo says, standing in front of her and looking down at her with a frown. "You look like a mess."

"And it took you quite the while to get here," she says, but she can't keep a smile from her face.

"My bad, eh?" Ichigo hefts his sword onto his shoulders, turning around. "But it wasn't that long. It takes some talent to get into trouble this quick."

Growling, the hollow staggers up, one hand clutching at its shoulder and failing to keep blood from spurting out. "How dare you!"

"Ichigo," Rukia says urgently, "the leeches— It can make explosions."

"So that's its trick." Ichigo levels his sword at the hollow. "You! I've gotten just about enough of you!" He steps forward, bracing his sword with both hands. "Leave other people out of this, and I'll show you I can slaughter you perfectly fine by myself."

The hollow sneers. "Hmph."

The small hollows around it pounce at Ichigo. He dodges and his sword flashes out, slicing them apart and letting leeches spill onto the ground. The hollow grabs another handful of creatures from its mane and throws them at him. They splatter onto the ground behind Ichigo as he ducks.

"Think you're doin' pretty good cutting them down, huh?" the hollow says as Ichigo works his way through his minions and closer to it. "But you forgot one thing—the leeches that spill from them are still bombs!"

Its tongue whistles. Ichigo glances around to find himself surrounded by puddles of leeches, which simultaneously explode in an earsplitting crack and a cloud of smoke that engulfs the street.

The hollow laughs. "Oh yeah! Another shinigami down!"

"Too slow."

It whirls around as Ichigo appears behind it with a blur of shunpo. Its hand reaches up and catches Ichigo's sword. The force of the blow knocks it off its feet. Ichigo leaps at it and drives his blade through its knee, straight into the concrete below. It howls, scrabbling across the ground to get away.

"You killed Yuuichi's mother," Ichigo says. "You hurt Yuuichi. You hurt my friends."

He twists his blade in the hollow's leg with a splintering sound of bone. A thin smile flashes at his lips as the hollow writhes on the ground. "How are you gonna make up for it, I wonder?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia shouts. He turns around, resting one hand on the sword and regarding her with a frown.

"Stop playing around," Rukia says. "I know you could've finished this hollow with your first strike, before it even saw you. Why didn't you?"

Ichigo turns back to the hollow, and the look in his eyes is cold like she's never seen it before. He rips his sword out of the hollow's leg with a jet of blood and stalks up to the hollow's head. His motions are slow, deliberate, barely-contained rage held in them. In a flash, his blade cleaves its skull in half.

"The shinigami are balancers," Rukia says quietly. "We do not judge or exact punishment. We reap souls equally, offer each an equal chance to the Soul Society."

Ichigo steps backwards as a white light flares from the hollow's mask. He raises a hand, bracing himself against a blast of wind that kicks up. The light traces the shape of two huge doors in the air.

"What's going on?" he says.

"The task of punishing those souls who committed great sins in life, we leave to Hell," Rukia says.

A grand set of double gates appears, surrounded by an aura that chills the air. They're bolted by chains, guarded by two looming skeletons. The gates creak open until the chains are taut and barely holding.

"Watch. The gates of Hell are opening."

The chains snap, one after another, and the gates swing open to reveal only darkness. The hollow howls in agony. It jerks and falls limp as a blade skewers its chest, held by a huge disembodied hand which retreats slowly into the darkness with its prey. The doors slam shut, then shatter with no trace.

"Hell?" Ichigo lets his hand drop, staring at the empty air.

Rukia lets out a breath. "It's over."

Ichigo runs a hand through his hair with a sigh. He looks over at Rukia. "You okay?"

"I've been better," Rukia says, "but it's nothing you need to worry about." She gestures to Chad and Yuuichi, standing a good ways away from the battle. "C'mon. There's one more thing to handle."

Chad approaches. "It's over?"

Rukia nods. "Come here, Yuuichi."

Yuuichi hops off Chad's shoulder and down onto the ground. He looks up at Ichigo with bright black eyes. "Is the monster really gone?"

"Yeah, it is. I'm sorry you got caught in all this," Ichigo says.

"No," Yuuichi says, "I'm glad I could help." He blinks up at Rukia. "Do you know where my mom is?"

"She'll be in Soul Society," Rukia says, "and we can send you there. You won't be hungry or hurt there again."

Yuuichi nods. "I want to see her."

"Alright." Ichigo kneels down, lifting his sword. "I'll start the konsou."

* * *

"You're not going to alter Chad's memory, right?"

The bedroom door clicks shut behind Rukia. "You asked me not to. I'll respect your wishes."

"Yeah. Thanks," Ichigo says.

"He has above-average reiatsu for a human," Rukia says.

"Hm?" Ichigo glances back at her. "Chad?"

She frowns. "You haven't noticed? It may not be enough to see spirits, but he definitely has spiritual power and it's growing. That fight probably kick-started his development too."

 _'You really haven't noticed,'_ his hollow says teasingly. _'I've noticed. It's not just him, it's most of your other human friends. It's not much, not right now—just enough for a passing hollow to take notice, maybe.'_

Ichigo tenses. _'What are you saying?'_

The hollow laughs. _'That you better not slip up, little substitute shinigami!'_

"Ichigo?" Ichigo blinks and realizes Rukia is talking. "You look kind of pale."

Ichigo rounds on her. "Why are you in this room, anyway?"

"Are you still on about that?" Rukia says.

"Still on about that— of course I am! You can't just march into my room and decide to stay in my closet!"

"Where else am I supposed to stay?" Rukia says.

"You act like that's my concern," Ichigo says.

Rukia crosses her arms. "Isn't it? It's your fault that I have to stay in the human world in the first place. With all I've been doing for you, you owe me at least this much!"

"This wasn't in our agreement, you crazy shinigami!" Ichigo snaps.

"Hm." She turns away and goes over to his closet. "If that's all…"

"Find some other room to sleep in!" Ichigo says. "We have plenty!"

She blinks at him like she has no idea why he's suggesting that. "But this is more convenient." She pushes open the closet door and climbs in. "Good night, Ichigo."

She shuts the door behind her without waiting for a response. Ichigo stares incredulously after her.

He smacks a hand against his forehead. "You've got to be kidding me."

* * *

 _Thank you for reading! Please review, reviews are the best._


	9. come rain or sun

"Here!"

Ichigo gets a plastic candy dispenser with a duck head tossed at him. He turns it over in his hand, then shakes it. "What is this?"

"Gikongan," Rukia says. "I got them especially for you. It'll get you out of your body in case I'm not around."

"Really?" Ichigo says. "Looks like candy to me."

"It's an artificial soul," Rukia says. "When you swallow it, it'll push your soul out of your body, then animate it and follow your commands. So you can get someone else to deal with your body for you instead of leaving it lying around."

"I don't really get it," Ichigo says.

Rukia crosses her arms. "Try it and see!"

Ichigo dispenses a small green pill into his palm and studies it. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Perfectly!" she says. "Now hurry up, stick it in your mouth and see what happens!"

* * *

"I knew this was a bad idea!"

"You whine too much," Rukia says, running without bothering to look at him.

"Are you kidding me?" Ichigo says. He stops and grabs Rukia's arm to drag her to a stop. "Forget it, we lost him." He spins her around. "You were saying something about a mod soul. What does that mean?"

Rukia sighs. "This'll take a bit to explain."

* * *

"So," Ichigo sums up, "it's an illegal experimental soul that's part of some secret project something-or-other of Soul Society?"

Rukia nods. "And where did you get this thing again?" Ichigo says.

Rukia flushes. "It may not have been the most reputable venue, but there aren't any alternatives in this world! Otherwise I would never have turned to that shady shopkeeper son-of-a—"

"Ah," Ichigo says. "You got it from Urahara."

"Wait," Rukia says, "how do you know—"

Ichigo turns on his heel. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Huh?" Rukia stares after him as he marches off. She dashes after him. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"

"We're taking our complaints to the owner!" Ichigo calls back without slowing down.

* * *

 _CRASH!_

"Urahara!"

Tessai, rummaging through some boxes in one corner of the shop, looks up and doesn't bat an eye from Ichigo kicking the door in. "Ah, Kurosaki-san. The boss is in the back. You can rest assured he's working on your problem."

"He better damn be!" Ichigo says. "Now tell him to get his ass out here—"

"My, my, if it isn't the new substitute shinigami!" Urahara emerges from the back of the shop, hat tilted on his head, fan covering his grin. "I hear you've been having some difficulties on the job?"

"If you don't deal with the crazy mod soul possessing my body, you'll be having difficulties," Ichigo snaps.

"Wait, hold on!" Rukia steps between them, looking from Urahara to Ichigo as if she's not sure who to glare at. "You two know each other?"

"Kurosaki-san and I go way back," the shopkeeper says glibly.

"Don't talk like that!" Ichigo says. "It's barely been over a year!" He crosses his arms. "Forget that. What are you gonna do about the mod soul?"

"Patience, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara says. "We just have to prepare a few things here, then we can track it down and neutralize it. It won't be difficult. You're welcome to have some tea here while you wait."

Ichigo's tone shifts. "Neutralize it? What do you mean by…"

"We'll take it back through any means necessary," Urahara says. "Hopefully without having to resort to violence, but I will fully reimburse you for any damages to your body—"

"And once you have him," Ichigo says, his frown deepening. "What happens?"

Urahara shrugs. "Why, we're going to destroy it, of course. We can't have a potentially dangerous thing like that running around. Soul Society would have my head if they found out."

Ichigo is silent, scowling at the floor. Without warning, he whirls around and strides toward it, throwing it open.

"Wait, Ichigo." Rukia starts after him. "What are you—"

"C'mon." He marches out the door. "We're gonna find the mod soul."

Rukia glances back into the shop. "Before Urahara does, you mean."

"Yeah," Ichigo says, looking out over the rooftops of the town. "I have some questions to ask him."

* * *

"So that's why I refuse to kill anything!"

Ichigo looks thoughtfully at the mod soul. He huffs and turns away, leaning against the railing.

"Big philosophy for a little pill, huh?"

"You probably think it's silly," the mod soul says, pouting. "Well I think—"

"I don't think so," Ichigo says. "Sometimes you just gotta find some belief to cling to, cause nothing else is sure in this world."

The mod soul looks down and remains silent.

A wooden sandal clacks against the ground to Ichigo's right. "Oh, what's this?"

Ichigo looks up to see Urahara standing over the mod soul, who suddenly looks mortally terrified. Urahara raises his cane and jabs it through his head, ejecting its green pill form, which bounces along the ground before rolling to a stop. It's a very lonely-looking green pill, Ichigo thinks.

Urahara bends over and scoops it up, tossing it up and down in his hand. "Okay, mission accomplished! Let's go home."

"Hey!" Ichigo leaps up. "That's not yours!"

Urahara glances at him from under the brim of his hat. "It certainly is my responsibility. I'd be in hot water if word of this incident gets out."

"Now," Suddenly Rukia is standing behind him, arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground. "I seem to distinctly recall paying for that item. Are you in the habit of confiscating a customer's belongings?"

"Kuchiki-san!" Urahara turns around. "I'd be happy to give you a refund—"

"That won't be necessary." Rukia gives Ichigo a measuring look. "We'll keep it."

Urahara shrugs and tosses it at Ichigo. "I do hope you two know what you're getting yourselves into."

"I can handle it," Rukia says.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," Ichigo says, pocketing the pill. "If Soul Society comes knocking at my door, they won't know what to arrest me for first."

Urahara huffs a breath and tilts back his hat, watching the two of them walk off.

* * *

 _It's raining. The street is dark. The deluge pounds the town into submission._

What is he doing here, again?

 _The town seems so empty. It's like he's the only living human here, like the looming houses and shadows around him are populated by ghosts. His footsteps stand out from the white noise of the rain. He could swear he's inviting attack._

From what? What's out there, waiting?

 _He's so tired, but he can't stop. If he stops, it's over._

He's looking for something, isn't he?

What?

What's he searching for?

—

Ichigo cracks his eyes open. He's staring up at his bedroom ceiling in the dark.

He rolls onto his side, shivering, pulling the blanket tighter around him. It feels like the chill of the rain has soaked into his bones.

 _'It's a dream, king,'_ his hollow says.

A dream? He scrubs the back of his hand across his eyes and half-rises from his pillow to grope for his alarm clock. He blinks at the lighted display until his eyes focus. It's 4 o'clock. He collapses back in his bed, slinging an arm over his eyes.

 _'It's tomorrow.'_

"I know that," Ichigo mutters.

He shifts his arm aside, staring blearily at the ceiling. "I don't really want to go to school."

 _'Then ditch,'_ his hollow says. _'You're never any fun.'_

Ichigo rolls over. "I think I should just do the opposite of whatever you say."

The hollow scoffs. _'Are you going tomorrow?'_

"I don't know," Ichigo mutters.

 _'I know you don't know.'_

"Then why are you asking?" Ichigo says.

He hums. _'Your sisters don't like going without you. They worry about you when you get like this.'_

"You're saying I should go."

 _'You've avoided it for long enough, don't you think?'_

He hadn't gone last time. He'd locked himself in his room until he was sure he'd go crazy if he stayed there any longer, and then he called up the Visored and he and Hiyori spent the rest of the day beating the crap out of each other. Hiyori is useful for that.

Ichigo stares out his window at the inky black of the night. "I don't know how to face her."

 _'Your parents' deaths weren't your fault, King.'_

"I know that," Ichigo says. "You've said that enough times."

 _'You better check the forecast,'_ the hollow teases. _'There's an excuse to not go, if it rains.'_

"It's not going to rain," Ichigo says, staring at the sky as if his saying it will make it come true. He dares it to rain.

* * *

He ends up lying awake for two hours. In the morning, Rukia pushes open the closet door with a yawn of "Good morning."

She blinks and looks at him. "Ichigo? You don't look well."

Ichigo scrubs at his face. "I'm fine," he says, then because she doesn't look convinced, "I didn't get much sleep."

"That so?" Rukia says.

Ichigo turns over and draws the blanket over his head. "Leave me alone."

Rukia shrugs and heads downstairs for breakfast. He had introduced Rukia to his family, which went a lot better than he expected, and Yuzu had taken to her immediately and insisted on cooking for her. Meanwhile, Karin makes snide jokes about how Rukia insists on sleeping in his room. By now, Rukia is acting like she belongs here.

So that's how they adopted a shinigami.

Ichigo sighs and sits up. He just has to get moving, or he'll be stuck here thinking forever. He just has to pretend everything is fine for this one day. Tomorrow can be tomorrow's business.

He throws on the first clothes he finds and heads downstairs.

* * *

Yuzu pokes her head out of the kitchen. "Hi, Ichi-nii! What do you want for— oh."

Ichigo is standing in front of the giant poster of Masaki on the wall. He has a hand laid on it, staring unseeingly at Masaki's smiling face, her eyes so filled with life.

He hasn't had the heart to take it down. It reminds him of his father. Reminds him of _that day_. His mother lying on top of him, blood cooling in the rain, and his father falling to a hollow with a smile across his face.

Both his parents died for him. Why? How can he call himself a protector, if he's too weak to save the people he cares most about? What exactly is it he protects?

 _'Gain strength,'_ the voice in his head murmurs. _'Become strong enough so that no one can ever hurt you or yours again. I'll stand beside you.'_

Ichigo nods. "Yeah," he croaks, staring at the poster.

He turns and staggers away from the wall, only to stop as he finds Yuzu in his way. She throws her arms around him and buries her face in his shirt. Ichigo tenses. He raises his arms and, not knowing what else to do, folds them around her.

"Don't be sad, Ichi-nii," she whispers against his shirt. "We won't mind if you don't go."

Ichigo glances away. "I'm alright."

"But you look so sad," she says, looking up at him earnestly. "You always pretend, but you don't need to do that here."

Ichigo sighs, but a smile plays at his lips. "I can't get anything past you."

He gently unwraps her arms from around him and she steps away, watching him worriedly. His hand lingers on her shoulder. "It's okay. I'll go this year."

She perks up, her eyes brighten, and her face as a whole seems much lighter. "Really?"

Ichigo gives her an awkward smile. "Yeah. Don't worry about me."

He turns toward the kitchen, and she trails him there. She hums as she throws herself into preparing breakfast.

* * *

Yuzu is pouring over a checklist with a worried intensity. "Did we pack enough water?"

"We're only going across town," Ichigo says, perched at the table next to her.

"Umbrellas," Yuzu says, looking up from the paper. "What about those?"

"How could it rain?" Karin says. She's lounging at the other end of the table, head propped up in her hands. "The weather's been great lately."

"You never know when it might rain," Yuzu says sagely. "We should pack umbrellas." And that's case closed for Yuzu.

"Don't worry so much." Karin flaps a hand. "We've done this before, hey?"

"I'm not worrying," Yuzu says, picking up the checklist and poring over it again as she walks away from the table.

"Get a good night's sleep!" Ichigo calls after her. "It's a long hike tomorrow."

Yuzu makes an answering sound.

"That goes for you too," Karin says, getting up. "Sneaking out whenever to kill hollows—don't think we don't notice."

"Jeez, looks like I'm caught." Ichigo smiles sardonically after her. He heads upstairs after the two of them and lets himself into his room. Rukia is sitting on his bed, kicking her feet idly against his mattress.

"So," she says brightly as he walks in, "you're ditching school tomorrow and going on a picnic or something?"

"It's family business," Ichigo says.

"That's admirable," Rukia says. "It's good to see a family so close."

"Rukia." Ichigo catches her eye. She looks questioningly at him.

"Could I take a day off on my shinigami duties tomorrow?"

She looks affronted. "What? No, of course not! What's with you, Ichigo? You've been acting strange lately."

He supposes he has. He turns away, looks out the window. "It's the anniversary of my mom's death."

"Your mother is dead?" Rukia says. "Is she the woman on the poster?"

Ichigo nods. Rukia smiles slightly. "She's beautiful."

"Yeah," Ichigo says. He wanders his way to his bed. "Night, Rukia."

* * *

Tomorrow is, by all rights, a beautiful day. It's so different from that other rainy June six years ago. The sun is glaring down even this early in the morning, and Ichigo is relieved when they reach the shaded path of the forest.

They get to the detour in the path, where Ichigo lingers behind his two sisters. Yuzu glances over her shoulder at him.

"You two go on ahead," Ichigo says. "I've got something to handle."

"Huh?" Yuzu says. "What do you mean?"

"Sure thing, big bro," Karin says, hooking Yuzu's arm in her elbow and marching off. "Come on, let's leave Ichi-nii alone. I think he has some _personal_ stuff to deal with."

"What? Wait!" Yuzu says, getting dragged off by Karin. They round a bend, and Ichigo immediately hears them start whispering in none-too-quiet voices.

Ichigo turns around, crossing his arms and looking at the trees just off the path. "Why are you here, Rukia?"

There she is, dropping from a branch and landing lightly on the ground. She takes up a posture mirroring Ichigo's. "I'm here in case you need me."

"And why would I need you?" Ichigo says. He realizes just after saying it that it's a bit rude, but Rukia's being a bit rude.

"In case a hollow attacks," Rukia says, stepping out onto the path. "It could happen, you know."

"I don't need your help to deal with a hollow," he says, turning away. She falls into step behind him.

"What's that now?" Rukia says. "You don't need your shinigami powers? Do you think you're going to punch a hollow to death?"

"Watch me," Ichigo says, deadly serious.

Rukia smirks. "Oh, my. I'm sorry I questioned the great Kurosaki Ichigo, who's been a shinigami all of two weeks."

"Cut it out," Ichigo says, but can't summon up much real ire. Her being here, even her sneaking halfway to the cemetery with them, isn't all that bad when it comes down to it. He already feels less tense with her around.

They round a bend and catch sight of the entryway to the cemetery. Rukia lingers outside.

"I'll wait for you," she says. "I know I said all that about hollows attacking, but try not to think about them. This is your day."

Ichigo nods, walking ahead into the graveyard. His feet take him on the familiar path between the headstones almost automatically. "See ya, then," he calls back.

Try not to think about hollows? She has no idea, but they're all that's on his mind.

* * *

"His mother died when he was nine. It was an accident, they never found the cause.

"He didn't come to school for a while. I found him near the river where she died. He had his little backpack on, walking up and down the riverbank from morning to night. It's like he was looking for her.

"I couldn't stand to see Ichigo like that…"

* * *

Ichigo stands in front of the grave, staring at the stark black kanji across gray stone.

 _Mom… could you ever forgive me?_

 _I'm sorry. I say I'm going to protect everyone, but you two died to save me._

 _Urahara told me. Who you were and how the two of you met. He's training me to use my powers. I don't know if you'd be very happy with that, but this is something I have to do. I want to stop running away. I want to get stronger for the people around me._

 _Even though it seems all I do is fight for myself…_

 _I'm a shinigami now. Rukia gave me her powers. Maybe if I can use them to help people, to save souls, the sacrifice you made would have been worth it._

His hand clenches into a fist at his side. _I swear someday, I'll find the hollow who killed you._

* * *

"He was fourteen when his father died. This was just a year or so ago, the October before last. They said it was a car accident, but…

"I asked Ichigo once and he said it wasn't an accident. Then he told me to drop it and he never talked about it again.

"He missed school for a few days and when he came back, he didn't act like himself. He was wild, angry, lashing out at everyone around him. Some kids mocked him and he put them in the hospital. He never hurt his friends, but he pushed us away. I was so worried."

Tatsuki leans back on her hands, looking up at the ceiling with a sigh.

"In the end, none of us could help him. It was some man who showed up out of nowhere, claimed to be a family acquaintance—Urahara-san—and a gang of his friends. I think that Urahara guy took charge of their family's affairs and might've become their legal guardian. I can't imagine how.

"Ichigo dropped out of school for about a month. He was spending all his time with them. He called it training, but he never answered any questions about it.

"He eventually returned to school and he was acting a lot better and maybe he was better. But something seems different about him now, and there are so many secrets, so many things that'll make him clam up if you ask. It feels like there's such a distance between us now.

"And what I'll never be able to forgive myself for… Ichigo was hurting, and I couldn't do anything for him. It was a bunch of strangers he just met who helped him. I don't know how I can call myself his best friend like this…"

* * *

Rukia sits perched on a ledge overlooking the graveyard, her feet dangling over the edge and her dress fluttering in a light breeze. She can pick out Ichigo easily below her, standing at his family grave. There's mingled grief and regret in his face and weariness held in the set of his shoulders, of a kind she usually sees in people decades older.

He doesn't look like the teenager he's meant to be. He often doesn't. He's a human who's barely gone up against half a dozen hollows, yet the way he acts in battle doesn't speak of inexperience. He carries himself like a warrior.

Rukia sighs and looks up at the sky. Ichigo is full of mysteries. Rukia might never puzzle them all out, but at the moment, that doesn't seem to matter. Sometimes Rukia feels like they've known each other forever, and sometimes she realizes she doesn't understand him at all, but there's always an unspoken trust between them she can't explain.

A dark sensation ripples through the air. Rukia tenses. She gets to her feet, looking around.

A hollow? But she's heard nothing from her phone. She looks to Ichigo. He's also on alert and glancing around.

She's in the process of digging in her pocket for her phone when it rings. She flips it open and curses. The order's come late. Damn the scanners at twelfth, they fail at the worst of times.

She looks up to find Ichigo is gone.

* * *

 _Please review! Reviews are the best_


	10. the one you can't cut

"Karin?" Yuzu tugs at her sister's sleeve. "What's wrong?"

Karin unfreezes and scrambles in her pockets for her can of hollow repellant. "Get away, Yuzu!" she shouts.

It takes her several tries to tug the can out of her pocket, and she fumbles it in her hand and nearly drops it. She backs away, her arms held stiffly out in front of her, brandishing the small can at the hollow.

"Strange gimmick," the girl standing by the hollow says—and what's wrong with her voice? "But that's not going to work!"

The hollow raises a hand. Its arm shoots out at Karin before she can blink. The can is knocked out of her hands, rolling across the floor with a clatter. Karin goes sprawling, her head cracking against hard ground with a jolt of pain. Gritting her teeth, she struggles against the ground, blood streaming from her forehead. The can is a good foot away from her outstretched fingertips.

"Karin!" Yuzu cries, running up. Karin groans and raises her head.

"No, stay back!" she shouts. The hollow's huge hand crashes down on her, crushing her to the ground, forcing a cry out of her lips. She claws against the ground.

"Karin, you're bleeding," Yuzu says, coming to her side. She reaches out to her. "What's…"

"Stop!" Karin chokes out. "Get away… hollow—"

A tentacle lashes around Yuzu's neck and lifts her high in the air. She gasps, clutching at it. Her legs kick through the air as she struggles.

The girl sneers, a cruel look that doesn't belong on her face. "How noisy. Stay out of the way! It's the dark-haired brat I want to eat!"

Yuzu chokes, trying to pry the tentacle off from around her neck. Her movements grow weaker by the second.

A rush of red light slams into the hollow and engulfs it. It howls, sent crashing to the ground a good distance away. Yuzu falls, the tentacle severed, and a blur intercepts her before she can hit the ground.

"Looking to die, hollow?" says a cold voice.

Karin looks up, her breath catching in her throat. Ichigo is standing before her, Yuzu clutched to his chest with one hand, the other raised with black reiatsu swirling around his arm. His eyes gleam with a hint of gold in them.

"You should've come to me from the start. Your death might've even been quick."

Karin coughs, pushing herself up from the ground. "Ichigo," she groans.

Ichigo's eyes soften as he glances down at her. "Karin. You okay?"

Karin nods, then collapses in another coughing fit. Ichigo leans down next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder. His eyes are sharper than the Ichigo she knows, something hard and deadly in them, but she would never feel threatened by her brother.

"Can you stand?" Ichigo says. "If you can, get Yuzu away from here, okay?" He lays an unconscious Yuzu on the floor, and turns to face the hollow.

Its claws scrabble against the floor, pulling it to its feet. Its fur is singed in patches across its body. It growls, turning with pained movements to face him.

"What are you?" says the little girl. "How can you fire a cero?"

Ichigo tenses, looking like he'd been punched in the gut. His fingers curl into fists at his sides. "No way. It was you, six years ago! You were at the river that day!"

He takes a step forward. "What are you doing here? Why are you with a hollow?"

"Oh?" the girl tilts her head, her lips pursed in a slight smile. "So you've seen me before."

Her lips split open in a grin filled with teeth. "How about this, boy? I'll reveal my true nature to you, if you do the same."

Her face goes slack. The skin peels away from her head, sloughing off to reveal a roughly humanoid dummy underneath. Ichigo stumbles back. "What the—"

The dummy connects with a tendril to the hollow's head. Its mask sneers at Ichigo. "What's wrong, boy? You look surprised!"

Ichigo looks pale. "You— who are—"

"Grand Fisher," says a voice behind him. He turns around to see Rukia, leaning against a tree and clutching at a stitch in her side. She straightens up, gasping for breath. "He's well known by the Soul Society."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo says.

She taps some buttons on her pager. "He uses the lure on his head to find the spiritually aware, then eats them and absorbs their power. He's been a menace to shinigami as well. He's managed to evade us for 54 years, and racked up quite a rap sheet during that time."

Her pager prints out a slip of paper. She tears it off and hands it to Ichigo. He stares down at a list of names and dates—casualties—printed neatly across it.

The paper crumples in his hand. "Rukia," Ichigo says, quiet in a tightly controlled voice. "Get me out of my body."

Rukia pulls on her glove and slams the heel of her palm into his chest. He stumbles back, and his body collapses beside him, Rukia intercepting it before it hits the ground. She grunts under its dead weight.

Ichigo draws his sword and swings it around to point at Grand Fisher. His eyes flash a harsh yellow. "I've been looking for you for a long time. Your luck's run out, hollow."

"Oh?" the hollow says, tilting its head. "You're a shinigami."

"Not quite," Ichigo says. "Rukia!" he calls out without turning around. "Take my sisters and get out of here."

She looks up from struggling with his body. "Ichigo! Don't be reckless! I told you—this is a very dangerous hollow! You need my help!"

"Just go!" Ichigo shouts. "I'll be fine!"

His hand tightens around his sword's hilt. "This is my battle."

Rukia is silent then. He hears her wrestle Kon out of her backpack, stuff the pill into his body, and drag the mod soul off protesting. They're soon gone into the forest that surrounds the cemetery.

"Well?" says Grand Fisher. "Your friends are gone. Are you going to fight now, boy?"

"Oh, you're going to get your fight," Ichigo says. His mouth draws into a slow smile. "It won't be a long one."

He closes his eyes and when he opens them they glow yellow against solid black. Grand Fisher barely has a chance to be shocked before Ichigo blurs and disappears, and his sword lashes out straight for the hollow's mask.

The hollow ducks to one side, the tip of the blade just grazing against its mask. Ichigo swings his sword down and the blade shatters the ground as Grand Fisher leaps back.

"What are you?" the hollow growls. The look in its eyes is starting to become apprehensive.

Ichigo lifts his head. A crazed smile pulls at his lips and the corner of a white mask is forming over his left eye. He chuckles humorlessly. "I don't know. Maybe you can figure out. 'Cause I sure haven't in all this time."

He grabs his sword's hilt with his other hand, flips the blade, and slashes it up with a yell. An arc of black energy tears across the ground, a solid wall extending to the sky.

The wave of black dissipates, leaving a deep fissure across the earth. The hollow drags itself away, gasping and wheezing, two of its limbs disintegrated and blood marking a trail across the ground.

Ichigo stands watching it with slight amusement in his eyes. "First time I tried that. Turned out more powerful than I expected."

 _'Of course, you idiot,'_ his hollow says, but Ichigo senses a wave of fierce pride from him. _'That's the true form of that attack.'_

"That so?" Ichigo says. "I'll keep it in mind—"

A tendril of fur lashes out at Ichigo. He leaps back, raising his sword to block, but the fur surges around his blade and wraps around his limbs. He snarls, tearing at it with fingers tipped with claws.

"Ichigo!" Rukia's voice shouts from the sidelines. He glances over in shock.

She raises one hand, palm pointed at the hollow. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini!"

"Rukia, no!" Ichigo shouts. "Get out of here!"

A tendril of fur curls around his neck. He tears his sword free and slashes at the mass of fur, severing most of it and feeling its grip fall limp around him. He hacks away at it, chunks of brown hair flying into the air, until the tendril retreats.

Ichigo lowers his sword, breathing hard. "Rukia, you shouldn't be here. I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't," Rukia says. "Have you no faith?"

"I meant," Ichigo says slowly, "I don't want to hurt you, accidentally."

"Ichigo," Rukia says in a quieter voice. "That mask— what is…"

Ichigo glances away. "Don't worry about it."

He leaps forward. Grand Fisher regenerates an arm and a leg from his fur and stands up. He sneers at Ichigo. "Do you think you've won?"

His fur surges at Ichigo again. Ichigo leaps into the air, flashing to one side as it follows him, and slices it apart. He vanishes in a blur.

"You're gonna have to be more creative than that."

Grand Fisher turns to find Ichigo behind him. He throws himself back from Ichigo's swing, taking a deep gash across his side. Ichigo's sword smashes into the ground, shattering it, as the hollow leaps into the air.

He lands behind Ichigo. Ichigo whirls around, bringing up his sword. Grand Fisher's arm elongates, his hand flying at him. Ichigo braces himself as its palm slams into the blade.

Ichigo grits his teeth, forced a step back. Grand Fisher's mask twists into a grotesque smile. The skin on the tip of his fingers splits open and claws shoot out straight at Ichigo. Ichigo's eyes widen. He knocks the hollow's hand away with his sword and leaps aside, as the tip of one claw catches him across the chest and draws a line of blood.

Ichigo's mouth draws into a vicious smile. He grabs Grand Fisher's arm with his free hand, sinks claws into flesh, twists and tears. There's the sound of snapping tendons and bones as the hollow screeches. Ichigo tosses the arm to one side. Blood splatters over the ground, drips from Ichigo's claws, droplets splashing across his face and hair.

"Regenerate all you want, Grand Fisher," Ichigo hisses. "I'll just tear you apart until you can't."

The hollow chuckles. It leers at him gloatingly. "I got you, boy!"

Ichigo frowns. "What's that?"

"Why do you think I fought you with those claws?" Grand Fisher crows. "You're strong, boy, but you're much too reckless! You discarded your defense just to get close to me!"

Ichigo levels his sword at the hollow. "You think you can pull tricks to beat me?"

"Oh, yes." The hollow flexes its claw. "I've got a good one." He swings the lure down from his head, the skin covering it and turning back into the facsimile of a human girl. He closes his claw over her head.

"Don't you wonder how I've managed to best the shinigami for so many years?"

"Not really," Ichigo says stiffly, hand clenched on his sword.

Grand Fisher's fur grows out and regenerates his left hand. He raises it, extending claws. "With these claws, I can find your weakness. Every shinigami, no matter how heartless, has that one person he can't cut. And I already know who that one is for you!"

He moves his hand aside from his dummy, revealing a familiar face and a flash of auburn hair. Ichigo's breath catches in his throat. A hand of ice closes over his heart.

He stumbles back. "No. No, it can't be."

 _'Ichigo,'_ his hollow says warningly. Ichigo hardly hears. He can't tear his eyes away from the face that haunts his dreams and nightmares, his mother who now stands before him.

"Ichigo?" Masaki says. Ichigo flinches. It's her voice, her voice he remembers so well and thought he'd never hear again. The sound strikes him down to his very core.

 _'Ichigo, pay attention!'_

Ichigo starts. He raises his sword as Grand Fisher's clawed hand slams into it, sending him skidding back a step.

He knocks the hand aside. "Damn you!" He lunges forth with his sword. And he stops dead, its point at Masaki's face.

"No," his mother pleads. "Put the sword down. You wouldn't hurt your mommy, would you?"

Ichigo's hands grip around the hilt of his sword so tight the knuckles turn white. They're shaking. He feels like hands are choking him, like he can't breathe.

 _'No!'_ his inner hollow is howling in his head. _'It's a trick! A trick! Cut him down, now!'_

"Ichigo!" Rukia cries from the sidelines, and oh yeah, he's fighting. He's fighting to avenge his mother. His mother is dead.

He raises his sword with a hoarse cry and tries to charge for Grand Fisher, but Masaki's in the way. She smiles softly at him. "Oh, come on now. Drop the sword."

A growl rattles in Ichigo's throat. "No. Don't… don't pretend to be my mother!"

He swings his sword and it catches her in a slash across her body. Blood spills across his sword, the ground. She screams.

It's the very sound that haunts his worst nightmares.

She stares at him in shock, horror. "Why, Ichigo? Why would you hurt your own mother?"

Ichigo takes a step back. His sword falls from his hands. It clatters loud on the ground.

"You really are a monster, aren't you?" She sounds crueler than any Masaki he's ever known. Her words tear into his heart like jagged knives, no matter how he tries to ignore them. "You aren't human after all."

 _'Don't listen to her!'_ his hollow roars, and all of a sudden he's upon him and trying to shove him out of control.

He doubles over, clutching at his head with a hoarse scream.

Claws slam into him out of nowhere, tearing into flesh, muscle, tossing him across the graveyard. He lands and doesn't get up, his own blood splashing the ground.

* * *

Rukia runs to Ichigo with a scream. Panic is choking at her throat, overwhelming all her years of training. Her fault, her thoughts run over and over, her fault she let him fight alone, her fault if he dies, her fault, her fault, _her fault._

She crouches near him, her hands trembling. What can she even do? His left arm is broken, a fragment of jagged bone piercing through his skin. Blood oozes from deep gashes across his side and ribs, forming an ever-growing pool around him.

And the rain won't stop pouring down.

" _Ichigo!_ " The wild scream, filled with so much despair, is her own.

 _Rain in a dark night and blood on her hands and Kaien's hand on her back, Kaien's smile—_

Is she doomed to fail everyone around her?

It takes her two tries to activate her healing kidou. She reaches her hand, shrouded in a green glow, to Ichigo.

A hand closes around hers, grip tight and reassuring, warmth seeping into her fingers. Ichigo's eyes are open. A smile curls at his lips.

"What's wrong, girl?" His voice is not his own. "This ain't like you. You really care so much about us dying?"

He pushes himself up gingerly with one arm. "Don't worry. This bastard won't take us down."

Rukia blinks away tears that are lost in the rain. "You idiot," she says in a tight voice. "Stay still. Your arm is broken."

"Ah." He grimaces. "It'll heal."

He stands up, staggering and clutching his left arm. "Yo! Grand Fisher!"

A cruel smile stretches across his face. "It's my turn now."

* * *

 _(Zan still hasn't told Ichigo the name of his Getsuga)_

 _Please review! Reviews are the best._


	11. the things I can't forgive

Grand Fisher chuckles. "What's this? You're still alive."

"Seems so," Ichigo says, grinning like a madman. "Looks like you're gonna have to try a bit harder."

He hefts his sword and is about to charge, but halts in his tracks at Rukia's cry of "Ichigo!"

He turns around. A chill runs through Rukia from meeting those eyes. They're black and a luminous gold, watching her like a predator studying prey, or maybe assessing a potential ally, but so much unlike how a human looks at another human.

He turns away. "Sorry, but I'm not Ichigo."

"What… do you mean?" Rukia forces from numb lips.

His reiatsu, she realizes. It's unmistakably the reiatsu of a hollow. She wouldn't even be able to recognize it as Ichigo's if she weren't looking at him right now.

She stumbles to her feet. "Who are you?"

"Who, me?" He turns a wry grin back on her. "Oh, I'm just a hollow with no name."

He grabs his right forearm and roughly wrenches the bone back into place. There's a grinding sound and a crunch of splintering bone. He grimaces, treating the whole business more like a minor inconvenience than anything. The rest of his wounds have stopped bleeding.

He flexes his arm, then swaps his zanpakutou to that hand. "I'm tired of your tricks, Grand Fisher!" he calls out. "Come here and fight already, so I can crush you!"

"You talk big," Grand Fisher sneers. "But I know you're bluffing. I've pulled out my trump card and there's not a thing you can do about it—"

Ichigo vanishes in a blur and a whisper of sound. Grand Fisher reels back, screeching. Ichigo lands on the ground behind him and half-turns with a vicious grin across his face. He has one hand raised, blood dripping from his claws.

"You're slow."

Grand Fisher clutches at his mask, shattered along one side. "How! You didn't have that speed before!"

"Only because Ichigo doesn't know how to use half his powers," says Ichigo, or the thing in his body. He smiles thinly. "But you're fighting against me now."

He raises his sword and charges. "It's over!"

A flash of auburn hair, and a slim figure throws herself in his way. Ichigo freezes. She grabs his sword arm, slim fingers clasping around his wrist. Ichigo snarls and twists away, raising his free hand and slashing wildly with his claws.

His hand stops short of the woman's throat. He's breathing hard, a wild look in his eyes. The woman grabs his other arm. "No," she pleads, leaning in, damp hair falling over her face. "Don't do this, Ichigo."

"You think I'll be fooled by a fake like this?" Ichigo growls, but he can't take his eyes off his mother's face. He struggles in her grasp, trying to free his sword.

Grand Fisher looms over him with a leer. "What's wrong? Can't attack? I thought you were going to crush me!"

"I will!" Ichigo howls. "I'll tear you apart! I'll make you suffer until you beg me for death, you piece of shit!"

Grand Fisher sneers. "By all means. If you can get past your dear mother, that is!"

"You know," Ichigo says quietly, "I don't know if you heard me the first time." He wrenches a hand out of his mother's grip. "I'm not Ichigo."

His hand plunges through her chest.

* * *

 _'Stop!'_ Ichigo screams. _'What are you doing?'_

 _'Shut up!'_ the hollow shouts back. _'You've screwed up enough for one day, so why don't you get out of the way and let me deal with it!'_

He rips his hand out of Masaki's body, breathing hard. Blood splashes across his robes, his mask. Most of his forearm is splattered with crimson, blood running down his arms and dripping from his claws.

 _'Why?'_ Ichigo chokes out.

 _'Because you can't,'_ the hollow says wearily. He shoves Masaki's crumpled body aside and advances on Grand Fisher with his sword raised.

"Now, it's over," he spits, and Grand Fisher draws half a step back with fear beginning to dawn in his eyes.

 _'Wait!'_ Ichigo says. _'What did you mean by that?'_

The hollow ignores him. He lunges, his sword flashing out and sending one of Grand Fisher's forelimbs tumbling across the ground. Grand Fisher's fur surges out, trying to entrap them. The hollow slashes a claw forward, and a blaze of black energy shreds the fur apart.

Grand Fisher leaps into the air. His eyes widen and he twists around to see Ichigo in the air behind him. Ichigo's hollow raises his blade, black reiatsu storming around it. He brings it down with a yell.

The blast hits Grand Fisher in the back and slams him into the ground. The hollow leaps after him. He thrusts his sword through Grand Fisher's back with a wet squish and a crunch of bone and jerks the blade sideways. Black energy tears a ragged hole through Grand Fisher's side.

Blood and flesh splatters across the ground. The hollow laughs, a sound too high to be sane. Ichigo watches helplessly, a passenger in his own head, unable to look away.

Grand Fisher drags himself away across the ground with one hand, teeth clenched and gasping, leaving a dark trail smeared behind him. He's barely holding his midsection together with his fur.

The hollow leaps off, flicking blood from his sword. The mask is fully formed across his face. He watches his prey struggle with a frigid contempt in his eyes. In a flash of steel, his blade lashes out and severs Grand Fisher's remaining arm. He advances with a wild laugh.

 _'Stop,'_ Ichigo says quietly. _'That's enough, isn't it?'_

He frowns vaguely. "Stop?" His eyes study Grand Fisher, collapsed quivering on the ground. A smile flashes across his face. "Whatever you say, King."

He turns away. A slash of his fingers across the mask has it fade away into black reishi. He retreats from his body and Ichigo finds himself abruptly in control. He misses his balance and nearly falls, jamming his sword into the ground and propping himself up against it. He feels so crushingly tired. All around him the rain pours down, soaking into his robes and mingling with pools of blood across the ground.

He lifts his head. "Rukia…"

She stares at him, bewildered, violet eyes widened in shock and horror. Relief slowly seeps into them. "Ichigo. You're back?"

Ichigo glances away. "Rukia. I'm sorry."

"Are you okay?" she presses.

Ichigo straightens up unsteadily and waves a hand. "Oh, don't worry about me." His head only feels like it's been run over by a small truck.

She huffs. "Who's worrying? I just—" Her eyes widen. "Ichigo, behind you!"

Ichigo whirls around and raises his sword just as Grand Fisher's hand crashes into it. Ichigo skids back a step, his heels dragging into the ground. He bats him back and lashes out with his sword.

His blade freezes at Masaki's face. She has a cruel grin stretched unnaturally across it. The tip of his sword drops to the ground. "No…"

Masaki chuckles in Grand Fisher's voice. "Remember when you asked if my decoy was a part of me? I bet you assumed that I was the real body. Well, you're wrong! I have two bodies!"

"Damn you!" Ichigo snarls. Grand Fisher only laughs.

"Can't attack me now, can you? Beasts with acute vision are slaves to their eyes! You know it's me in here, but you can't cut me down 'cause I look like your mother!"

Ichigo clenches his teeth. His hollow is shouting at him. _'Get out of the way! I'll rip him apart! Let me out!'_ He struggles against Ichigo, trying to force him out of control yet again.

"Shut up!" Ichigo screams. "You get out of the way!" He senses a flash of shock from the hollow, who backs off without a word. Ichigo lunges and swings his sword in an unbalanced arc at Grand Fisher, who leaps away from it easily.

"You'll never kill me," Grand Fisher crows. "You're weak, boy!" He extends an arm, his hand shooting at Ichigo. It hits his sword with a metallic clang, the blade shaking as he pushes him back.

An animalistic snarl comes from Ichigo. He leaps to one side and turns his sword away from Grand Fisher's hand, leaving it to shoot past him. He flashes forward as Grand Fisher is off balance, and his sword is a bolt of light in the rainstorm.

It plunges through Masaki's body.

"Don't…" Ichigo gasps. "Don't insult my mother's memory."

He rips his sword out of her body. "You're a sorry excuse for a hollow."

He jabs the sword down again two-handed. Grand Fisher screams in Masaki's, his own voice. Then nothing as his form fades into reishi and dust.

Ichigo lets his hand holding his sword drop to his side. He stands, breathing hard, staring at nothing. Masaki's screams echo in his memory.

This vengeance thing ain't what it's made out to be. It doesn't give him any peace at all.

He falls to his knees in the rain.

* * *

"Ichigo?"

Rukia approaches the kneeling figure. Her heart is pounding despite herself. That thing, that other voice—whatever it was, that wasn't Ichigo.

He lifts his head, staring back and not really focusing on her. A jolt of shock runs through her. His eyes are still yellow set in black, a striped white mask covering half his face.

Are those tears on his face? Or just the rain?

"Rukia," he murmurs as she kneels down next to him. His reiatsu, still storming around him, sends a chill through her body, sets her danger senses screaming _hollow_ , but she ignores it.

"Get away from me," he forces out through clenched teeth. She freezes.

"Huh?"

He squeezes his eyes shut. "Get away. I'm a monster. You shouldn't be—"

Rukia grabs him by the shoulder, wrenches him around to face her. He stares at her in shock.

"Don't tell me you're going to listen to what that thing said," she snaps.

Ichigo tears his gaze away. "I killed my mother."

"You killed Grand Fisher," Rukia says.

He stares down at his fingers tipped in claws, covered in blood. "I—I hurt… it was _her_ … she was screaming—"

"No!" Rukia shouts, shaking him until he looks her in the eye again. "You saved her. You freed your mother's soul."

"I…" He goes back to staring at his hands.

Rukia sighs and scoots over to sit beside him, shoulder pressing into his side. He stiffens, but eventually leans against her. His warmth radiates into her. She can barely feel him shaking.

"I'm sorry," he says after a long silence. He closes his eyes. "I…"

"I don't know what you're apologizing for," Rukia says. "Unless it's that mess of a battle you just fought. You could've been killed."

"Hey," he says wearily, "you don't need to say that. I don't die so easily, you know." But the tone in his voice is lighter, and he relaxes by a degree against her.

"Are you sure you aren't injured?" Rukia says more seriously.

"Huh?" He waves a hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm fine. I can regenerate."

Rukia grabs his left arm, inspecting it for any signs of damage. "Seriously…"

"Of course I'm serious," Ichigo huffs. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Rukia looks up at him. "Ichigo, these powers are…"

He grimaces and looks away, giving off a very clear 'I don't want to talk about it' vibe.

She sighs, then gets to her feet. She turns to him and holds out a hand. "C'mon, then. Are we just going to sit in the rain and get drenched?"

A smile flickers at his lips as he reaches out and takes her hand. He meets her eyes. His eyes seem softer now, more like him.

"Thank you," he says quietly. "For giving me your powers. If I didn't have them… I don't know where I'd be."

* * *

 _Sorry for this chapter being so short! I just wasn't going to get such a good place to end off for a while yet if I'd kept going. Do you know the feel? You probably don't know the feel._

 _Rest assured the next chapter will be longer! And plottier, and flashback-y, and containing of character development!_

 _Please review! Review are the best!_


	12. unending night

"If I didn't know better," Rukia says, "I'd say you were avoiding me."

"Huh?" Ichigo freezes in the middle of slinging his book bag over his shoulder. He looks up to see Rukia leaning against his table with her arms crossed.

"No, I just…" He stares at the bag, crumpling its straps together in his fists. He sighs. "I'm just trying to find a good time."

"You could have given your explanation last night," she says.

"I was tired."

"Then at school."

"That's too public." He hefts his bag on his shoulder. "Well, see ya."

"Ichigo!" Rukia says in that commanding voice of hers that instantly conveys her disapproving frown. He stops halfway to the door and turns.

Her eyes catch his and hold them. He finds his gaze pinned even though he hadn't been able to look at her for more than five seconds previously. "You don't have to tell everything," Rukia says more softly. "Not if it would hurt you to. Just, who you are. Who the man I entrusted my powers to really is."

"Hey, I've been your substitute for what, three weeks?" Ichigo says. "No one's died so far, and only a few things have blown up." His light tone feels forced.

"This is not funny!" Rukia snaps. "I am responsible for your actions in the eyes of Soul Society. But more importantly than that, I am responsible for the safety of all the humans and souls in this town! And I've left their lives in your hands!"

Ichigo can't think of what to say. He jerks his eyes away and blurts something out without thinking.

"And what if I was the wrong choice, huh? What if I told you I was a monster, a killer, a psychopath? What are you gonna do then?"

"Do you really believe that?" Rukia says. "Because I don't."

Ichigo stares at her, incredulous and a bit resigned. He really can't keep anything from her. He sighs, drops his book bag on the floor, and digs in his pockets for his cell phone. She watches with an inscrutable expression as he dials.

He puts the phone to his ear. "Yo. Urahara-san?"

"Why, if it isn't my favorite customer!" comes his perky voice at the other end.

"Yeah, your only," Ichigo says. "Listen, can you call the school and give them some excuse for my absence? I'll be busy today."

"Mou, Kurosaki-san, what kind of a responsible guardian would I be if I let you do something like that?"

"Not responsible at all," Ichigo says. "You gonna do it?"

"Sure!" Urahara says. "I'll have everything handled. Have a pleasant date, Kurosaki-san!"

" _What?_ " Ichigo squawks into the phone to the sound of a dial tone. He snaps it shut, glowering at it.

"Ichigo?" Rukia says. "Did you just—"

"C'mon," he says, turning towards the door. "We're gonna ditch today."

* * *

Ichigo lands from a sonido on the road near the riverbank and drops Rukia, who's been screaming in his ear the entire trip.

"Jeez, shut up," he gripes. "People will think you're getting murdered."

Rukia doubles over with her hands on her knees. "You just grabbed me!" she says in between gasps. "You could have given me some warning!"

"Alright, alright!" He raises his hands. "I just thought this way'd be faster."

"Sonido," Rukia says when she finally catches her breath. She straightens up. "It's sonido, isn't it?"

"Mm," Ichigo says, sticking his hands in his pockets and walking off towards the river.

"No wonder you managed to learn shunpo so fast," Rukia muses as she follows him.

He stands at the edge of the river, staring at its steadily swirling waters. Rukia is silent beside him. He might not have noticed her there if he didn't know better.

"My mom died here," Ichigo says. "You already know a hollow killed her. I was there, but I couldn't protect her."

Rukia has no response. He doesn't look over to check for a reaction, still staring at the river.

"Just a year ago, my father was killed," he continues slowly. "By a hollow. I couldn't protect him either."

He lifts a hand and clenches it into a fist, black energy writhing and lashing around it. "I… awakened these powers that day. That was the beginning."

* * *

He didn't attend the funeral. He shouldn't leave Karin and Yuzu out there alone, he knows—Yuzu inconsolate with tears, Karin's eyes already dry, tears already locked inside, but never leaving Yuzu or Ichigo's side and something brittle in her expression every time he looks at her. Something strong made broken, never to heal.

He can't. It's raining. It was raining on that night also.

He can't stand the rain.

He's in his room with headphones on and music turned up as loud as it'll go, music he doesn't even hear, and with his curtains drawn he can forget the rain outside for just this once. But he can never drown out the voice that whispers insidiously in his mind. _You're weak,_ it says.

 _Give up,_ it says. _Give in._

He looks around. It's so dark—he had forgotten to turn the lights on as the sunlight waned. He could imagine that the entire world is just him alone, him and the voice. Maybe that's not so far off.

Give in to me, the voice hisses. _I can get you your revenge. I can give you power. No one would ever hurt you again._

"Shut up," Ichigo says. He doesn't know why he's refusing. It just seems like something he should do. Something the boy named Kurosaki Ichigo would do.

Is it? What do I do? Dad? Mom?

* * *

Ichigo picks his words carefully. "It wasn't a good time for me. I guess my friends from school can tell you. I don't remember well."

Rukia frowns. "I've heard the rumors."

"Screw the rumors," Ichigo says.

* * *

They were all whispering. He tried to ignore them.

Cursed. Always something different about him. His mother died too, you know, and they called that an accident too.

Creepy kid. Did you know, he used to talk to ghosts when he was younger? Used to see things that weren't there.

And now his old man's dead, but…

Why does he keep grinning like he's lost his mind?

The next day, everyone avoided him. And there were rumors. Not where he could hear, oh no. Not anywhere near him.

Stay away from that guy. He'll beat up anyone who looks at him funny. He's serious—he means business—he'll kill someone next.

What's changed? He fights like a demon. No one can touch him. He doesn't listen to reason or anybody's cries of mercy. They scream and he just laughs. Bones snap; they cry and beg—he just keeps going, until they're unconscious.

Stay away from Kurosaki. He's not human. He's a monster—

* * *

"All I remember," Ichigo says slowly, "is that they had it coming."

He looks up at Rukia, having almost forgotten why he'd come. "Sorry. I should get to the point, shouldn't I? When I met Urahara-san."

* * *

It's dark and he can't sleep. Indescribable images assault him every time he closes his eyes. He's just been lying in bed, listening as the sounds from Yuzu and Karin's room grow quiet, as silence overtakes the house.

Too silent. Their house will forever be too silent.

He has to get out of here. He pushes himself up from the bed like he's in a dream. Going over to his window, he throws it open, a blast of cold night air hitting his face. He leans out, taking deep breaths like he's about to suffocate.

He climbs out of the window and up onto his roof, straightening up and tilting his head back to look at the night sky. He's on the second floor, but he doesn't even think of falling. His steps are sure even though he's not looking where he's walking at all.

Where are his feet taking him? He lowers his gaze, looking out over the roofs and darkened buildings of his town. Some force other than him is leading his steps, but he doesn't care. Maybe if he surrenders himself to it, he won't feel so crushingly lost anymore. Maybe it knows where to go.

He leaps off the roof, incredible energy bolstering his jump, and for a moment he's flying through the air as wind snatches at him. Then, before he can blink, his feet slam into the next roof over. He glances back to see he's cleared a gap of ten feet or so.

A smile comes to his lips. He looks down at his hands, clenches a fist to feel a power he's never known the likes of coursing through him, responding perfectly to his call.

He tenses, pushes off again. His feet barely touch the next roof before he leaps. He dashes through the air with the wind howling in his ears and what seems like the entire world silent around him. It doesn't even feel strange—it's like he's known this power all his life. Already, it'd be strange to him if he didn't have it.

His feet hit a street, the shock of the impact jarring his entire body. He winces, more out of habit than anything, stumbling several steps forward to keep his balance.

He glances up at the sound of a shriek and sees a young girl crawling backwards away from him, her face white and streaked with sweat. A ghost. He frowns. "What's wrong?"

She collapses on the ground, gasping, barely managing to raise one shaking hand. "W—watch out!"

Alarm shoots through Ichigo as he realizes she's pointing behind him. He turns, raises an arm to shield his head, just as a huge fist slams into it.

He stands his ground without wavering. The impact of the blow on his forearm feels muted, weaker than some punches he's taken from humans. The masked monster withdraws its hand with a roar, leering down at him with bestial eyes. It's different from the first one, but the white mask, the hole through its chest, are the same and unmistakable.

A hollow. It's a hollow. How does he know? What is a hollow? He doesn't know any of that.

 _'I can't bring back what you've lost,'_ says the yellow-eyed demon in his mind. There is a hard edge to its voice. _'But I will lend you strength. You will never be helpless like you were again.'_

The hollow throws back its head with a howl that echoes across the street. Its arm swings for him.

 _'That beast? It's beneath you. Crush it.'_

Ichigo leaps as its next strike pulverizes the pavement underneath him. He kicks off the air, appearing behind its head in a flash.

It turns but too slow. He raises a hand, energy swirling around it, fingers curled into a fist. He thrusts it forward.

A bolt of red energy streaks through the air, piercing cleanly through its head. It staggers backwards, reeling until it crashes onto the ground. In a blurred motion, Ichigo has the ghost in his arms and out of the way. He sets her down, turning back to look at the hollow as it slowly fades away.

"What did you do?" she says wonderingly. "You saved me."

Ichigo makes a vague sound of acknowledgment, barely paying attention to her. "You get yourself somewhere safe, okay?"

He remains still, staring at the hollow, even as her light footsteps steal away.

"What is it?" he whispers. "What are these things?"

 _'Hollows,'_ the voice says. _'Souls without hearts. Monsters driven only to consume and slaughter. Sound familiar?'_

A chill runs through Ichigo. "What do you mean?" he whispers.

A sudden pain pierces into his heart, sharp and burning and cold. He gasps and stumbles on his feet, doubling over and clutching at his chest.

 _'Don't you know?'_ it says gleefully. _'You're just the same, deep inside.'_

"No," Ichigo gasps, but his mind, instead of rejecting its words, calls up memories he had tried to keep away until now. Ripping a mask from his face. Staring at it in his hands—a stylized skull of white bone that leers at him with bared teeth—and knowing it belongs to him, finding himself unable to think of it in any other way than _his_.

"No!" He grits his teeth, shaking his head. "I'm— I'm not—"

He arches his back and lets out a hoarse cry. His knees hit the ground, but he hardly feels it. One hand clutches at his face, fingers digging into the edges of the mask slowly forming around one eye.

 _'Will you deny the truth? What you always were?'_

"Shut up, shut up!" Ichigo cries. He doesn't know what he's saying; he just wants it all to stop. "You're lying, you're a liar—"

His voice breaks off in a scream. Pain clamps around his head like a vice, drilling into his skull. He nearly falls, propping himself up on one arm. His limbs are shaking. He can't breathe.

Stop it. Stop it! Why is it doing this to him? What does it want?

He'll kill it! He'll destroy it! He'll tear apart anyone and everyone around him, if only to make this pain stop, if only he can have a moment of peace!

 _'You wanted to know?'_ the voice says, cloyingly soft. _'This is what a hollow is.'_

Something about his words rings through even the haze of Ichigo's mind. There's something important, but… what?

"I'm not a hollow," he says. His voice sounds pathetically weak even to himself. "I'm…" He grits his teeth, nails digging into his scalp. Dammit, he's… "I'm human."

The voice snarls. _'Why do you keep fighting? Why do you keep rejecting me? Does clinging to this lie matter so much to you?'_

Ichigo shakes his head. He doesn't know, he realizes. He…

"I don't know!" he cries. "I don't know who I am! I don't know what I'm supposed to do!"

He kneels there, gasping for breath, his desperate words ringing in his ears, and the hollow's reply chills him to the bone.

 _'Destroy all your enemies. Destroy anything that could ever pose a threat to you. That way, you'll never get hurt again.'_

Ichigo stares unseeingly at the ground. He lifts a hand to the mask across his face, now fully formed. Coldness sinks into him like a stone, like a weight he'll never be rid of.

"Yeah," he whispers, kneeling in the cold yellow light of streetlamps which only seems to be swallowed by the darkness. His face turns to a slow smile, his teeth clenching until his jaw aches. "Yes."

"Yes, I'll make them…" he gasps a shuddering breath. "I'll make them all pay. And you'll be with me, won't you?"

 _'Yes, Ichigo,'_ he hears from the hissing voice that dwells in the dark. _'I'll stay by your side forever.'_

* * *

"I was born with these powers," Ichigo says. "Shinigami. Hollow. Quincy. Whatever you call something like me."

He looks up at the sky with a sigh. "My parents never told me. I can sort of understand what they were thinking—that they wanted to keep me from danger, though it certainly didn't work out that way. I can kind of forgive them for it…" He looks down at his hands, trails his fingers against each other. "But in some ways I can't."

* * *

Blood splashes through the air. Ichigo lands hard on the road, stumbling. The preternatural grace and instinct that had led him through the fight fails him, leaving only a crushing exhaustion that weighs in his limbs and bones. His legs are trembling, his chest heaving for breaths. There is a persistent buzz in his ears that seems to lurk in his mind somewhere behind his thoughts.

He turns to see the hollow fall behind him. Okay, that's five. Or six. Or fifty. This night could have lasted for years.

His knees buckle and something hard and yet soft and flapping is there to catch him. He automatically pushes away from the arm that hooks around his chest, struggling to get out of the man's grasp. His movements have about as much strength as a child's.

"Ichigo," a voice says, and he turns around to meet it. "You're out pretty late."

Standing behind him is an unkempt man with stubble dotting his chin and wild blond hair trying to escape from underneath his hat, the brim of which shadows his eyes and half his face. He holds a cane loosely in one hand. For some reason, a figure that would draw looks walking down the street doesn't seem strange at all here in the half-lit night among the deathless monsters.

"You've been out pretty late the last couple nights, haven't you?" says the man, one arm braced against Ichigo's back. "Who knows what kind of mischief you've been getting into?"

"Woah!" He ducks backwards, wooden sandals clacking on the ground, from a swing of Ichigo's claws. "That's dangerous!"

Ichigo staggers away from him, hands raised and body tense. "Get away from me," he growls. "Who are you?"

The man sighs. "I'm Urahara Kisuke," he says, the false cheer gone from his voice. "I'm an old family friend, and I'm here to help you. Now, you look like you could do with a nap."

Before Ichigo can muster up the energy to move, his hand is in his face, fingers in front of his eyes, and he hears him say "Hakufuku."

And then there's nothing else.

* * *

 _Page breaks intensify._

 _Please review! Reviews are the best! And please give me feedback on this flashback mini-arc of sorts. Tell me if it goes on too long - I'm planning on it spanning the next chapter or so, and might throw in the Visored._


	13. a deal sealed by blood

Ichigo wakes with a start. He's somewhere warmer now—wood walls, mats spread across the floor, bright light filling the room. He throws off a cover and sits bolt upright, looking around.

"And here I thought you'd be out longer," a voice says, "considering I haven't seen you sleep in three days."

Ichigo's eyes find the blonde man in the hat and settle on him with a weary glare. He opens his mouth and manages to croak "Where am I? Is this a kidnapping?"  
"My, Kurosaki-san!" The man is sitting at the opposite side of a small table with a teapot resting on it. "I brought you here so we could have a more comfortable chat. You'll ruin my establishment with such wild claims."

He gestures to the table. "Like some tea?" He looks disappointed when Ichigo shakes his head.

"If you're going to talk, just do it," Ichigo growls.

He sighs, setting down his teacup. When he looks up, the serious look is back in his eyes like flipping a switch. "Take off the mask."

"Huh?" Ichigo jerks bolt upright. His hand goes to his face—no, to the mask across it, which he already has an unsettling tendency to forget about.

"Get rid of it," the man says. "It's no good for you. It's been saying things to you, hasn't it? And you've been listening."

Ichigo shakes his head almost without thinking. What, is he taking orders from an inanimate object? That's absurd.

Suddenly, a flash of anger ignites in him. He raises a hand and black energy forms claws around his fingers. "No," he hears himself growl in a voice that doesn't sound all human. "You have no idea what you're talking about. This is _mine_. You don't understand anything."

"Stop," the man says. "Keep using these powers and you'll lose yourself to them."

Ichigo wants to say that there's not much of himself he cares to keep, but somehow thinks better of it.

"I promised Isshin," the man says quietly, his eyes never wavering from Ichigo's face. "I promised him I'd save you from this, and I don't make promises very easily, so I better make sure I keep this one."

Ichigo's hand falls to his side. "My dad? You knew…" He swallows, his mouth dry. "How? What do you mean?"

"There's a hollow inside you, Kurosaki-san," Urahara says. "And did it ever tell you how it came to be?"

Ichigo is silent. Maybe he's waiting for the voice in his head, but it has nothing to say either.

"This power was passed down to you from your mother," the man says. "And it was on a rainy afternoon sixteen years ago when I helped your father save her life."

* * *

The sky lightens from night to a dusky grey. As Ichigo listens, time forgotten, Urahara tells him a story of a shinigami captain, a young Quincy, and a hollow with no name. It rings like a fairy tale but, somehow, it's the story of his life. It's the most absurd 'and this is how your parents met' he's ever heard.

He doesn't realize Urahara's reached the end until he says "Well, Kurosaki-san? Do you have questions?"

Ichigo shakes his head. He has more questions than answers, but he doesn't think he can bear to ask any of them today.

"No," he says in a hoarse voice. "Thank you for… telling me, Urahara-san."

"Well then," he says, "could I get you to take off that mask, or is it still too soon?"

"I…" Ichigo nods dully, long after his voice trails off into silence. He lifts a hand to his face.

His hand freezes as a sharp pain pierces into his mind like claws. An inhuman hiss rings in his ears.

 _'Are you really gonna trust this guy?'_ it snarls, and underneath that he senses _I'm never gonna let you go; I've got you where I want and no one's gonna get in the way._

"Shut up," Ichigo says, and he doesn't know where the steadiness in his voice comes from. "You're mine, so obey me."

It falls into a stunned silence and for a second he can sense fear, loneliness, uncertainty, like pain that lances into his heart. It doesn't stop him as he brings a hand to his mask, slashes his fingers across it, watches it fade into black energy before his eyes.

It feels like a weight lifted from his mind. He hasn't noticed until now, how much his thoughts seemed not his own, how it's felt like something else was puppeting all his actions. He recalls staring down at his own mask in his hands, except this time, a monster stares back at him.

He's not scared. He actually kind of misses it. He knew what to do with it on and he knew it was always the right thing, so long as he never took it off.

He sighs, making to get up, but a wave of fatigue crashes into him like a physical weight. He blinks—he's on his hands and staring dizzily at the floor.  
"Woah there, Kurosaki-san!" Urahara exclaims. "You need to get some rest. You're not quite dead yet, but you're looking awfully like it."

Ichigo rubs at his forehead. It's amazing. He hasn't felt this until now? What had Urahara said—he hasn't slept for how many days?

"Go to sleep," Urahara says lightly. "You don't have school tomorrow, so stay here. We can talk more in the morning."

Ichigo sinks back on his futon with an unintelligible mumble. Something keeps his eyes open. Urahara just said he has no school tomorrow. He's pretty sure he had school all the previous days—he doesn't really remember, it all blends together in a haze—which means the weekend's just starting now. It feels like a relief, but also…

This all was one week? It felt like forever. How is he supposed to get through another week, another month, another year? He doesn't know how he's gotten through fourteen years already. He doesn't remember how he used to live.

As he's thinking, his eyes slide shut, and sleep creeps up on him without him noticing.

* * *

He's trapped in darkness again, and the darkness is featureless but somehow familiar. He looks around, taking a few tentative steps, unable to get rid of the notion that the floor might not be there under his feet.

What is he looking for, here in the darkness? What's looking back at him?

"Will you betray me?" A voice speaks out of the emptiness behind him. He turns.

It gives a short, dry laugh. "But that's useless to consider. I'd never give you the chance."

Two glowing eyes, a harsh incandescent yellow, lock onto him and pin him in place with a gut-deep fear. Claws stir against an unseen floor.

"You think you're gonna lock me in this darkness again? I won't let you. I'll take your body for myself, like I should've done from the start."

Ichigo backs away. He narrows his eyes at the darkness. "You really are just a hollow, aren't you? Now that I'm not going your way, you decide you're going to threaten me?"

"I trusted you, King!" the voice cries.

Ichigo freezes. His only warning is a buzz of energy and the whisper of a footstep against the ground, then its hand seizes his collar, fingers twisting the fabric, yanking him towards those hateful yellow eyes in the dark. The back of his shirt digs into his neck.

"I gave you my power! I tried to save you! But you'll never accept me as part of yourself, will you?"

Cold claws clamp around his neck, their tips digging into his skin. "Too bad. Looks like I'm a bit too real for you to deny right now."

"Get off," Ichigo forces out. His hand clutches at its wrist. Yellow eyes narrow dangerously for a split second.

It slams Ichigo back onto the floor so hard he sees stars. Before he can take a breath, its foot stomps down onto his chest.

"You don't like thinking that you're a hollow, I guess," it says. "Your father was killed by one. Your mother."

Ichigo blinks up at it. "My mother? I killed my mother."

"You didn't kill her." Cold, imperious eyes stare down at him. "A nine-year-old ain't so far-seeing, so don't talk like you've seen through everything."

"What do you know, then?" Ichigo says.

The hollow's eyes flick to the side. It steps off Ichigo's chest, finally allowing him to breathe properly.

"It doesn't matter what I know."

Ichigo sits up, rubbing at his chest. "I guess it doesn't matter. Nothing changes. I still killed her—she died protecting me. My dad died protecting me."

"Nothing _changes_ , King?" it snarls. "In that case, will nothing ever change? Will you always be waiting for the people you love to die on you?"

Ichigo looks up at it. "Something did change. My sisters would've been killed by that hollow."

The hollow scoffs. "You would've been killed. That's all I care about, so I made sure it didn't happen."

Ichigo's eyes cast across the floor. "Thank you," he says. "You let me change fate. You gave me that power."

"How strange," it muses. "You don't have regrets?"

"I have a lot of regrets," Ichigo says. "But I don't regret the decision I made that day."

"Typical of you, King," it says teasingly. "You have no idea what you're messing with."

Ichigo stares into its yellow eyes. "Urahara-san thinks you're dangerous. But I don't care about that."

"Of course I'm dangerous," the hollow says. "I'm your power, Ichigo. And I won't serve a weak king."

"I'm not asking you to serve me," Ichigo says.

"No?"

"I want you to teach me how to get stronger."

"Me?" the hollow says. "You want me to teach you?" It laughs. "I've underestimated you. And here I thought you were scared of me."

"No," Ichigo says measuredly, "not of you." He doesn't say what he is scared of, but the hollow can probably read it in his heart. He's not scared of the part of himself that makes him hurt and destroy, but the part of himself that responds.

"Do you trust me?" the hollow says.

"For now," Ichigo says.

"Do you really?" it presses. "You've known me for a week. Can you really call that trust?"

"Probably not," Ichigo says. He glares into its eyes. "But it's good enough, isn't it?"

"I can't stand you," the spirit says. "You talk big, but you have no strength to back your words." It extends a hand to him, claws gleaming in the faint light. "Fine. It'll do for now. Place your trust in me, and I'll make you strong."

Ichigo reaches out and takes its hand. Its claws dig into his palm like a brand of fire. He still feels it when he wakes up.

* * *

The next morning, Urahara finds Ichigo staring at his mask in his hands and muttering to himself. The man must have such a great opinion of his sanity.

"Good morning, Kurosaki-san!" he crows way too cheerfully. Ichigo fails to see what exactly is good about the morning.

"How are you feeling?" Urahara asks, standing in the doorway and his expression hidden behind his fan.

Ichigo grumbles something indistinguishable and scrubs a hand over his face. He dismisses his mask, feeling suddenly reluctant to be without it.

"Speaking to someone?" Urahara says.

Ichigo glares at him suspiciously. "What's it matter to you?"

Urahara sighs, walking into the room and taking a seat on the floor next to Ichigo. "I realize you don't trust me. How about we make a deal?"

Ichigo scowls at him. "What?"

Urahara holds up a finger. "I keep you and your family out of government custody. I know you can take care of your sisters by yourself. You practically have for a while now, no?"

That hurts Ichigo to hear, but he keeps an impassive expression.

"You have no relatives, no adults to turn to. Have you thought about the future at all?"

Ichigo hasn't, but he doesn't say anything. He's been a bit too busy dealing with the present. In truth, he's just been hoping the government doesn't realize three kids are living alone and start meddling in their situation, and luckily, they haven't. But now he wonders if maybe it isn't luck—maybe this Urahara guy had a hand in it.

"I could adopt you and your sisters," Urahara says.

Ichigo's head snaps up. He goes over the man's words a few time to make sure he heard them right.

"You could keep your house and stay there. You'd probably want things to remain as normal as possible. Of course, you're welcome here anytime you want."

Ichigo scoffs—an automatic response. "Who'd trust you with children?"

Urahara flips his fan up in front of his face. "Don't ask me about my methods, and I won't tell you any lies."

Ichigo recoils. "It's illegal?"

Urahara flutters his fan at him. "No, no, don't say that!"

Ichigo scoffs. "I bet all the items in your shop are illegal too!"

"Only some," Urahara says. "Well, I know this is a big choice to make. And you may want to ask your sisters' thoughts too."

"I don't get it," Ichigo says. "What's in it for you? There's two sides to a deal."

"So suspicious," Urahara laments. "Yes, I do have something to ask of you. I'd like you to stop hunting hollows."

Ichigo blinks. "But then who will? They'll kill people."

"Not to worry!" Urahara says. "I'll have Yoruichi on the job."

"Yoruichi?" Ichigo says.

"My pet cat."

And this man calls Ichigo unstable.

"Sure," Ichigo says flatly. "Whatever. Your cat." He catches sight of Urahara's eyes, half-hidden by his hat. Is the guy laughing at him?

Urahara sighs. "I'd ask you to stop using those powers entirely, but I don't think you'd agree to that."

Ichigo has to struggle to control a rush of irrational anger that doesn't fully belong to him. "They're my powers," he says quietly. "I don't need you to tell me what to do with them."

"You're not ready to control them," Urahara says. "Right now, you're driven by grief and vengeance. That's what it feeds on."

"Not 'it'," Ichigo says, because the hollow is growling in his mind and threatening murder. "And that's not why I want these powers."

"Then why?"

"I need to be stronger," Ichigo curls a hand into a fist. "I need to protect them."

"Ichigo," Urahara says gently, "this is not your burden to carry."

Ichigo wordlessly shakes his head.

"You're young. You have your whole life ahead of you, and you can't live it with one foot in the realm of the dead. You may have done well until now protecting your sisters from human threats, but the rules have changed. There are monsters out there too big for you to fight. Cast down the sword for once, Ichigo. You'll only suffer otherwise."

"I'm not afraid of suffering," Ichigo says. "And I have to."

"It's not your job," Urahara says. "No one will fault you—"

Ichigo shakes his head. "I will. And if I'm not there, who will be? The shinigami, whose job it actually is? My father was killed, and I didn't see them there. You? You weren't there either."

Urahara is silent, eyes downcast under the brim of his hat. "That is my failure, and I will never be able to make up for it." He suddenly sounds a thousand years old.

He kneels and bows before Ichigo until his head touches the floor mats. "It is too much to ask for you to forgive me. I can only promise that I will do all I can for—"

"Okay, jeez!" Ichigo says. "Get up already!"

Urahara blinks up at him. He sits up, runs a hand through his hair, and replaces his hat. "I will do all I can for you and your sisters," he finishes.

"Then help me," Ichigo presses. "Teach me how to become stronger."

"Is this what you really want?"

"Of course!" Ichigo says.

Urahara sighs. "I'll call in some friends. You, stop throwing those powers around on a whim. You'll attract the wrong sort of attention to this town."

Ichigo scowls, in more a resigned way than anything. He stands. "Thanks, then. Thanks for the adoption offer too. We won't make trouble for you. I can handle our expenses and everything."

"Aw, you don't need to do that," Urahara says. "It's not a hardship. We have more than enough money. And I wouldn't like to see you resort to something illegal to pay the bills."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Ichigo snaps. "You better not be suggesting anything."

He moves toward the door. "Not going to stay for breakfast?" Urahara says.

"I'm good," Ichigo says. He hesitates in the hallway outside and a cat pads by with its tail high in the air and a strangely keen look in its eyes. It turns out to know the way out.

"I suppose you're Yoruichi," Ichigo says as he pushes open the shop's door and the cat slinks out after him.

It looks straight at him and speaks in a deep voice. "How rude. At least address me with an honorific."

"What?" it says as Ichigo does a double take and gapes at it. Its voice sounds like it's laughing. "Surprised?"

"Why—" Ichigo sputters. "How come you can talk? What are you?"

Yoruichi arcs his tail gracefully. "What do you mean? I'm a cat."

Ichigo raises an eyebrow. "Just a cat?"

"What do you mean, just a cat?" Yoruichi says, nose in the air. "Cats can't speak."

"Arghh!" Ichigo turns away. "Forget it!"

He leaps away and disappears in a blur and a flare of reiatsu. Yoruichi watches him contemplatively.

"Good speed," the cat says. "He certainly lives up to his potential." It turns away. "You better know what you're doing, Kisuke…"

* * *

 _(Urahara: Don't tell Yoruichi I called her my pet O.o)_

 _Please comment! Tell me what you liked and what you didn't like. I'll take any feedback._


	14. an old face in the crowd

"Do you really trust Urahara?" Rukia asks.

"As much as anyone can, I guess," Ichigo says.

Rukia still looks incredulous. Ichigo shrugs. "He told me the truth from the start."

"And these people you mentioned, the Visored?" Rukia says. "What about them?"

Ichigo grimaces. "I… don't think I'm actually supposed to talk about them."

"What do you mean?" Rukia says. "Just who are they?"

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you," says Ichigo. He catches Rukia's eye. "What? It's what Shinji said to me. He has a terrible sense of humor, I'm sorry."

"Shinji?" Rukia looks troubled. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Ichigo shrugs. "It's a common name."

Rukia frowns. "But I feel like there's something…" She shakes her head. "Nevermind. I'm just rambling to myself."

"Not a crime," Ichigo says. "I've been rambling about my life for the past…" He glances at his watch. "Oh. I guess it's hasn't been as long as I thought. It felt like… actually, it felt like no time's passed at all…" His voice trails off. He looks at Rukia, who's staring down at the river. "Well?"

She starts. "Oh, I'm sorry. Were you waiting for me?"

"Yeah," Ichigo admits. "For you to run away."

Rukia crosses her arms. "Don't be ridiculous. And don't misjudge me either."

Ichigo huffs. "I just figured that anyone with some sense of self-preservation would run the hell away from me. I'd run the hell away from me."

"Ichigo." Rukia looks up at him, even as she has to crane her neck to meet his eyes. "I don't regret meeting you."

Ichigo tries to speak. Rukia interrupts him.

"I don't regret fighting for you. I don't regret losing my powers to you. And I don't regret turning my job over to you, however long it's ended up being."

"You don't know me," Ichigo says. "How can you trust me? Just like that?"

"Well, whatever I think of you," Rukia says, "it's a bit too late for me to change my mind." She sighs and shakes her head. "Your words may have been lies, but I've witnessed your actions over the past weeks. I cannot see you as a man who willingly deceives."

Ichigo is silent, looking away. "What if I told you I took your powers that day just for myself?"

Rukia jerks her chin up and sniffs. "I would probably be angry. So I guess you better not tell me."

Ichigo grimaces. "Because of me, you lost your powers and got caught up in this whole mess."

"I made the offer," Rukia says. "That was my miscalculation. My fault for being affected by emotion."

"Your fault?" Ichigo says sharply.

"I put the life of an outsider at stake. I knowingly performed such a risky transfer on a living human."

Ichigo snorts. "Well, I asked for it." His eyes search Rukia's face. "And I like to think I'm not an outsider. Not anymore, at least?"

"No," Rukia says, "you're not." She pauses, the seconds building up between them like a weight. "Thank you, for letting me into a heart I have no right to be in. For telling me the pain I have no right to ask about. If this is your truth, than I can trust in it."

Ichigo nods. "I'll try to stop hiding things from you. I wasn't any good at it anyway."

"It didn't do you any good, either," Rukia says. She nudges Ichigo. "So stop looking all gloomy. You're too young for that."

Ichigo sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He flashes a smirk at Rukia. "I guess we do have a day off from school. Might as well enjoy the rest of it. C'mon, let's go to the arcade or something."

"I'm not sure what an arcade is," Rukia mutters.

Ichigo grabs her arm. "I'll show you. Come on!"

* * *

Rukia has bonded annoyingly well with his sisters. Ichigo says annoyingly because Yuzu's dragged her off to watch her favorite TV shows and now they're oohing and ahhing over the television set together. He's pretty sure Rukia doesn't understand half of what's going on, but that doesn't stop her from being loudly fascinated by everything.

Yuzu crosses her arms over her shoulders and goes "Bohahaha!" She leans over and nudges Rukia. "Come on, do it with me!"

"What is this magic ritual?" Rukia says, copying Yuzu's pose.

Yuzu points at the screen. "It's what he says when he makes his heroic entrance. It's his catchphrase!"

Rukia frowns at the TV, hand on her chin. "Does he defeat hollows with that chant?"

"Well, no," Yuzu mumbles, subdued. "He doesn't fight hollows—well, it's hard to tell _what_ he fights…"

"Bet the man's never seen a hollow in his life," Karin pipes up from the kitchen table. "He'd probably crap his pants and run away."

Yuzu whirls around sharply. "No! He'd never run away! He's a hero!"

Karin scoffs. "Oh? Ought to introduce him to our brother then. Ichi-nii would make a great villain." She leans over with a sly grin. "Isn't that right?"

Ichigo turns away. "Leave me out of this comparison."

Karin snorts and leans her chair back on its legs. "See?" she says to Yuzu. "You want to see bad spirits, you don't need to bother with that show. We already have Ichi-nii around."

"Shush, Karin," Yuzu grouches. "I like this show."

"I don't understand why," Karin says. "It's so silly. You know it's not like that in real life."

Yuzu's voice goes quiet. "Well, maybe that's why I like it."

Ichigo stands up from the table. "Ah, lay off. She can watch what she wants." He rounds the corner of the table, heading for the staircase.

Yuzu shrieks in front of the TV. Ichigo whirls around. "What the hell! Don't do that!"

"They— they're— look!" Yuzu points at the TV screen. Ichigo glances over and immediately catches the "Karakura Town — Next Week" at the bottom of a shot of a boarded-up hospital.

"They're coming here!" Yuzu squeals. She turns to him so fast he's afraid she might get whiplash. "Can we go? Onii-chan, can we, can we?"

"Go?" Ichigo says doubtfully.

"Please?" Yuzu does a remarkable kicked-puppy impression with her eyes. "I really like the show. And it's going to be _right here_ and we'll get to see Mr. Kanonji live—"

Ichigo grimaces. "I'll think about it, okay?"

Yuzu gasps. "That's it? You're going to _think_ about it?" She looks at him with such dismay, it's like he turned her down on the spot.

"Don't be like that, Ichigo," Rukia puts in with a sly grin. "It sounds like fun! You should enjoy yourself once in a while."

"I'm good," Ichigo grumbles under his breath, then sighs loudly for show. "Fine. What the heck. Let's go."

* * *

There's an unreasonable amount of people at the screening. Perhaps half the town has shown up, crowding at the front for good seats and milling about in groups. That includes his friends, who have picked up on Don Kanonji's pose and shout. Keigo and Mizuiro particularly seem to like shouting "Bohahaha!" behind him and then running away.

"Hey, Rukia-chan!" Orihime comes prancing up. "Come on!" She strikes the cross-armed pose.

He could swear Rukia glances over at him with a look of mischief before she throws back her head and goes "Bohahaha!"

Ichigo turns away, grumbling. Somewhere, Yuzu and Karin have gone off looking for a better view. He scans the crowd around him idly.

"Why, Kurosaki-san! How fortunate to see you here!"

Ichigo tenses and turns towards the voice. "Urahara-san!"

There he is, pushing through the crowd toward him with his hat somehow staying on his head despite all the jostling. Ichigo raises an eyebrow. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, I do get out every once in a while," the man says with a guileless smile. "There's no reason to look so suspicious."

Ichigo supposes he does look suspicious. Well, sue him, but is he supposed to believe that Urahara came here with no ulterior motives at all—

"You see," Urahara says, flipping out his fan, "Jinta and Ururu really love this show, and they insisted we come. So here I am."

Huh. That seems… plausible.

"I'll assume you're in a similar predicament?"

"Huh?" Ichigo says.

Urahara looks around. "You brought your sisters here, and now you've managed to ditch them."

"It's more like they ditched me." Ichigo shrugs, his hands in his pockets. "Oh well. If you're here, you can look after them, right? I might as well leave."

"Oh dear, don't do that, Kurosaki-san." Urahara flicks his fan in front of his mouth. "Your sisters didn't just want to come, you know. They wanted to come with you."

"Oh." Ichigo shifts uncomfortably.

Urahara's hand claps onto Ichigo's shoulder. "Stick around. Depending on how things go tonight, we may have need of a shinigami."

He sets off through the crowd, hand clamped on Ichigo's shoulder and half-dragging Ichigo behind him. Ichigo looks for Rukia, but she's several knots of people away talking to Orihime.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asks Urahara. "What's going to happen?"

"Hopefully nothing! But who knows? Things may not work out that way."

"Is this place really haunted?" Ichigo asks.

Urahara hums. "Nothing dangerous. Don't worry so much! You won't be able to enjoy the show."

* * *

"To be honest, I've never understood what this show was," Rukia confides to Orihime.

"Me neither!" Orihime says brightly. "But almost everyone in town is here!" She gestures around. "The atmosphere's really lively!"

Her brow furrows. "It feels like something's going to happen…"

Rukia blinks. "Huh?"

"Oh no." Orihime laughs, rubbing at her head. "It's probably nothing."

She laces her hands together and looks at Rukia inquiringly. "I saw Ichigo-kun with you."

"Ah, yes. His sister begged him to come, but he dragged his feet all the way. That boy doesn't know how to have fun." Rukia looks around. "Where is he, anyway? I better find him before he gets in trouble."

"You're very concerned about him," Orihime muses.

Rukia laughs politely. "Oh, no, not concerned. Just, if he causes a mess, I might end up involved with it." She scans the crowd once again. "Oh well. I saw him with Urahara. They know each other, so we may as well leave Ichigo to him."

"Oh!" Orihime says. "There's Tatsuki!" She stands on tiptoes, waving an arm over her head. "Tatsuki! Taaatsuki!"

Tatsuki works her way through the crowd toward them. She chuckles and gestures at Orihime to calm down.

"Hey." She throws an arm over Orihime's shoulder and nods at Rukia. "So you came, huh? Where's Ichigo? He's always hanging around with you, that darn two-timer."

"Two-timer?" Rukia says. She and Orihime both give Tatsuki confused looks.

Tatsuki sticks a hand on her forehead. "Nevermind! Did Ichigo stay home after all?"

Rukia shakes her head. "He's here." She gestures to the front of the crowd.

"Probably got a better view than us," Tatsuki says. She grabs both girls by the arm. "C'mon, then! Let's get us some front-row seats too!"

* * *

Rukia ponders over the demi-hollow she can sense as she watches people bustle back and forth in front of her, setting up various equipment. Its unnatural reiatsu is draped over the hospital grounds, lending the place an ominous air that probably even the humans can sense. She can't pinpoint the location. The reiatsu is weak and spread out over the building, blending into the background.

Ichigo should know about it, right? Perhaps she should tell him, just in case the situation escalates—she doesn't think it's likely, but just in case…

She dismisses her concerns. Ichigo's with Urahara. If it comes down to it, he'll warn him… won't he?

Well, at the very least, the man will have measures in place before things get out of hand. She doesn't understand most of Urahara's motives, but she understands self-interest. And he won't be doing much more business in this town if Soul Society finds out a massive incident occurred on his watch.

Urahara would never be dumb enough to let that happen. But what _is_ he willing to let happen? To sacrifice?

A hollowlike howl cuts into her thoughts. The demi-hollow has manifested, thrashing in his chains and making petty threats at the oblivious humans near him. Chains entangle his limbs, bound to the hospital behind him, and the one in his chest is slowly working loose, leaving a gaping hole. He seems to be ranting about… 'cadillacs'.

Rukia looks over to her two companions. Orihime stares ahead with an anxious look, biting her lower lip. Tatsuki looks faintly nauseated. She catches Rukia's glance. "Did you hear that?"

Orihime nods, still looking straight ahead. "It was horrible…"

Tatsuki's expectant look is on Rukia. She looks alarmingly suspicious. Rukia forces a laugh. "I'm not sure what you're talking about."

They can hear it? She knew Ichigo's friends had developed some spiritual power, but she didn't expect them to be this far along.

Tatsuki grimaces, looking around. "Maybe this place is getting to me."

"Please be quiet, everyone!" says a tinnily magnified voice. "Shooting will start in five… four… three… two… one!"

The audience falls into a hush as the announcer introduces the host and the human medium himself jumps out of the sky with his signature laugh. The audience's enthusiasm is infectious. Rukia can't help joining in.

Kanonji turns out to be able to see the spirit quite well. He studies it, his hand rubbing his chin.

"This smells like a super-bad spirit," he declares. "I'll have to use my super spirit cane to finish it off quickly!"

He brandishes the cane high in the air—and isn't that a bit tacky for a weapon?—and brings the end of it down on the hole in the man's chest.

No! What is he doing?

Orihime and Tatsuki both wince from its inhuman howl of pain. Rukia looks around for Ichigo, but he's nowhere in sight.

"Ichigo!" she calls out uselessly, sound drowned out in the roar of the crowd.

"This is bad…" Orihime whimpers.

Rukia grimaces. "Get back. It's only going to get worse."

She hopes Ichigo and Urahara can handle it in time.

* * *

Ichigo lunges. "What is he doing?"

He finds a hand on his shoulder holding him back. "Mind your own business!" he says, shaking Urahara off. "I gotta stop him!"

He vaults over the rope cordon without thinking. The stifling feeling in the air is growing thicker. Urahara's cryptic warnings ring in his head—that man's always five steps ahead of anybody but he could _share_ once in a while—

"Stop that kid!" someone shouts, and he hits the floor under a pile of security guards.

You know, when you spend a while fighting as a shinigami, sometimes you forget you're not invisible.

"Get off me!" he yells, struggling. "It's important!" He realizes he's channeling his spiritual power instinctively and forces himself to stop—which unfortunately means he can't overpower five grown men larger than him.

Something catches his eye in the crowd and he freezes. Is he just imagining…?

A black-haired teen in glasses stands at the front of the crowd, hand on one of the cordon posts. His eyes narrow instantly as they catch Ichigo's gaze. A shock passes through Ichigo as he sees him.

Ichigo curses. This guy just has to show up here! Just to make this night more fun.

"Urahara!" Ichigo shouts.

"You seem to be having fun," the shopkeeper replies.

 _"Deal with this!"_ Ichigo snarls.

Urahara puts on a pout. "This isn't my job, you know." But he takes something from his pocket, flicks it, and it makes a sharp crack and a huge cloud of smoke. It drops all the guards where they stand.

"There!" Urahara says, stowing it away with a flourish. "Now for you."

He drives the end of his cane into Ichigo's gut, sending him tumbling across the ground. Ichigo picks himself up, coughing and glaring daggers at Urahara, who catches his body before it falls, gives him a wave, and calls out "Good luck!"

Ishida Uryuu glares at him, then vaults over the fence and blurs past Ichigo in a flash. What does he think he's doing, Ichigo thinks. And how can I trip him in front of the cameras?

Ichigo turns and rushes after Ishida, who rams the medium away from the spirit and, without slowing down, grabs him and drags him behind the broken doors of the hospital.

Screams and chaotic yelling comes from the crowd. The spirit lets out a howl of pain and rage. Ichigo pauses and turns. He should deal with him before—

The spirit explodes. Ichigo leaps back, shielding his face from the blast. He looks around, finding no sign of it. What the heck…?

"What's this?!" the announcer screams. "Don Kanonji seems to have been pushed by a mighty force and vanished! Right afterwards, there was an explosion! Could Don Kanonji have been saved by a benevolent spirit?"

 _Oh yes, Ishida, I am never forgetting this. You'll have to shoot me to keep me quiet._

Ichigo glances around uneasily, seeing only the glare of spotlights and settling dust. Where is the spirit? That couldn't have been a purification.

"Is it gone?"

 _'Nah,'_ his hollow replies. He sounds like he's enjoying the whole spectacle. _'Its reiatsu is still around.'_

Not just that, it's growing stronger. Ichigo takes a step back, looking around with a hand on his sword. Its presence is gathering somewhere near.

Rukia pitches herself forward in the crowd and shouts over their voices. "Ichigo! Above you!"

Ichigo looks up to the hospital roof and spots a not-at-all-human shape forming out of shadows and reishi. It has the head of the soul, but soon a white mask covers it, turning it into a frog-like hollow.

"Seriously," Ichigo mutters, drawing his sword. "But it exploded!"

 _'Yeah, well sometimes they do that.'_

"That's stupid."

 _'You're stupid.'_

Talking with his inner hollow always puts Ichigo in such a good mood.

He sighs, looking around. The Quincy bastard might have had the right idea in changing venues. He shoots a bala up at the hollow, which cracks the stone under its feet, and it turns its hungry gaze to him.

"C'mon!" Ichigo shouts. "Bet you can't get me!"

He turns and runs into the abandoned hospital.

* * *

 _("Karin-chan? That... looks like Ichi-nii, doesn't it?"br /_

 _"What? Ha ha ha, couldn't be. That's silly. Don't be so silly.")_

 _Why is Ichigo's star sign Cancer? Cause he's spiky and orange like a crab._

 _Really though he seems nothing like a Cancer based on the 10 entire minutes of research I did. Maybe some things match. And of course, the ruling planet of Cancer is the moon._

 _Anyway Ichigo didn't not mean to hit that hollow with the bala or anything, he just has shitty aim._

 _Please review! Reviews are the best._


	15. ghosts and busters

Ichigo runs through the corridor of cracked tile and broken ceiling lights, the hollow smashing its way through walls behind him. Every time it howls, the sound is magnified tenfold by the hallways, bombarding him from every direction.

He hears its footsteps stop and realizes it's pouncing. He ducks as it sails over his head and crashes through the nearest wall, throwing up a cloud of dust and sending cracks through the plaster up to the ceiling. Ichigo leaps through the hole after it.

A blue arrow immediately streaks towards his head and forces him to duck. "Hey!"

He straightens up and turns to the opposite side from the hollow. "Watch it, Ishida! I know exactly what you're aiming at!"

Ishida lowers his bow an inch and glares at him over the arrow notched in it. "Yes. A hollow, I believe."

"Funny," Ichigo snarls. "You want a fight?" The hollow behind him leaps and he blocks its teeth with his blade without looking.

"Unfortunately," Ishida says, snapping off every syllable, "I have better things to deal with right now. So I suggest you get out of my way."

"Are you kidding me?" Ichigo turns his back to Ishida, brandishing his sword as the hollow draws back. "This isn't your job, so you better stay out of _my_ way!"

The hollow crouches, beady eyes assessing the threat Ichigo poses. Suddenly, a loud battle cry comes from behind him. Ichigo's about to turn around when a hand grabs his shoulder and shoves him aside. He stumbles back a few steps.

"Save yourself, boy!" a very recognizable voice shouts. "The charismatic spirit medium of the new century, Don Kanonji, will do battle with this evil spirit!"

Ichigo blinks at the scene of the man in his wild hat and cape charging towards the hollow with his cane raised over his head like an ice pick. He's just gotten to the thought _that guy is going to die_ when Kanonji brings the end of the cane down and somehow manages to hit the hollow in the eye. It howls, lumbering backward and shaking its head.

Ichigo whirls on Ishida and gives the Quincy a very clear _this is your fault_ glare. Ishida isn't looking at Ichigo at all. He has his bow down and looks flustered.

"What are you _doing?_ " he nearly screeches at Kanonji. "I told you to let me handle it!" He raises his bow. "Get out of the way! I can't shoot! Kurosaki, do something!"

Ichigo crosses his arms. "You brought him here."

Ishida immediately turns on Ichigo, which means his bow's pointing at Ichigo. "Well, you brought the hollow here! So who's more at fault, huh?"

"I couldn't exactly fight the hollow anywhere else!" Ichigo snipes back.

"Then you should've _backed off_ and let me deal with it!"

"Not a chance in hell! _I'm_ the defender of this town! You're backup at best!"

"You're more useless at defending this town than the TV show host." Ishida raises his bow. "I've had enough. You have five seconds before I shoot, and anyone in the way after that becomes a casualty."

"You're insane!" Ichigo says. "You call me crazy, but you're clearly batshit!" He turns to the TV show host, who's pinned under the hollow and barely keeping its jaws from coming down on his arm by propping its mouth open with his cane. Ichigo grabs him and drags him back just before the stick splinters in two.

Ichigo shoves him towards Ishida without looking. "Babysit your psychic better!" He hears a sound of frustration from Ishida at having his line of fire blocked again.

"What are you doing, boy?" says Don Kanonji. "You must run away!"

"No!" Ichigo snaps. "It's you who needs to get your ass out of here!" He swings his sword horizontally at the hollow, but its blade imbeds into the wall and he barely manages to tug it free before the hollow attacks. He makes a mental note for the future not to wield his sword in enclosed spaces.

He leaps back from the hollow's swipe, then jabs his sword down and tries to impale it. It dodges and his blade runs into the floor. Backing away, it opens its mouth and spits out a glob of goop, which splatters across his blade and the ground. Ichigo quickly leaps away from it.

"What the hell?" He tugs at his sword. It doesn't budge. "Dammit! What an annoying hollow!"

"What are you _doing?_ " Ishida snaps.

Ichigo turns and glares at him like he's the one responsible. "Having tons of fun, what does it look like?" He backs up and points a hand at the blade of his sword. "Stand back! I'm gonna cero this out of the ground."

"No, stop!" Ishida cries. "You'll bring the whole place down!"

"No one needed this place anyway," Ichigo says, but he backs off.

"This is why I told you to stay out of the way!" Ishida says.

"Shut up!" Ichigo tenses and raises a hand as the hollow crouches. Black energy forms into heavy claws on his fingertips.

"Move it!" Ishida says. "I don't need you here, _substitute shinigami_."

Ichigo scoffs. "Not a chance."

He senses the arrow behind him just a second before it hits. Whirling around, he snatches it out of the air and smashes it into splinters of light in his fist. "What is wrong with you?"

"I warned you," Ishida says coldly.

"You wanna fight?" Ichigo raises a hand, black reiatsu swirling around it. "'Cause I'll fight you anyday."

"Don't end up regretting that challenge," Ishida says. "This won't end like last time."

Ichigo bares his teeth in a grin. "I was just thinking the same thing."

"Hey, now!" It's the voice of the TV psychic, who Ichigo had honestly forgotten about. "You two are gonna fight each other? What about the monster?"

Ichigo rolls his eyes and turns around reluctantly. "Keep it still. I'll cero it to hell."

"No!" Ishida barks from behind him. "Don't you dare! Don't use any of your ridiculously destructive blasts in here!"

"Not to worry!" shouts Kanonji. "The new century's premier spiritualist, Don Kanonji, still has tricks up his sleeve!"

He takes a pose, shouting and focusing a swirl of energy within his hand. "Perish, evil spirit! Kanonji Style Ultimate Secret Technique! Kanon Ball!"

"Destroy!" he shouts, and launches the sphere of light, which drifts gently through the air towards the hollow. Ichigo thinks a firefly could give it a run for its money in both brightness and speed. The hollow stares at it, clearly bemused.

It clears the attack with a short leap and charges as it explodes behind it. Its tongue whips out, swipes Don Kanonji, and it turns and drags him off screaming.

"Hey!" Ichigo runs after it. "You can't have that. We need to return him." He propels himself with shunpo to the end of the hall, blocking its way. It turns and crashes through a window in a spray of glass. It bounds up the side of the building, Kanonji screaming and being slung around wildly behind it.

Ishida joins Ichigo at the hole in the wall. He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. "You have to be kidding me."

"This is your fault," Ichigo says, just on principle.

"You were clearly closer!" Ishida snaps back. "You should've stopped him!"

"Oh, I was supposed to do that? I thought you could handle this all by yourself, Quincy."

"I don't have time for this." Ishida leaps out of the hole, forming reishi underneath his feet, and chases the hollow up through the air. Ichigo follows on his heels.

They land on the roof behind the hollow, who turns to glare at them balefully. Overhead, a helicopter descends, its spotlight growing bigger and roaming over the roof.

"Don Kanonji has reemerged on the roof!" the announcer shouts. "He appears to be struggling with an invisible enemy. And— wait. Impossible! Standing to one side is what appears to be a high school student! We're going in for a better look at his face—"

Ishida flinches and spits out a string of curses that Ichigo is frankly surprised to hear from him. He glares at Ichigo. "This isn't over, Kurosaki." Then he vanishes.

"He has disappeared!" the announcer cries. Ichigo looks around to confirm that yes, no sign of the Quincy.

"Seriously? He ditched me?" Ichigo smacks his forehead with his palm. "So much for his big talk."

He marches over to the hollow, who currently has a furiously struggling Kanonji in its jaws. He kicks it in the side. "Spit him out! He probably tastes terrible!"

It releases Kanonji, who goes flying from its mouth and tumbling across the ground. Ichigo stomps a foot down on the hollow's head before it can recover. He gives Kanonji a cursory glance and decides he's none the worse for wear.

"You saved me, boy!" Kanonji cries, picking himself up from the ground. "I shall call you my friend forever!"

"Save it!" Ichigo says. "Just come here and watch!"

He brings down a hand and cleaves apart the hollow's mask with a blast of black energy. He steps away, watching as the human underneath claws at his face and howls.

"Impossible," Don Kanonji says. "I sent that man on…"

Ichigo's hand comes down again, and this time black reiatsu cleaves the man's skull apart. He stares as his body fades away.

He closes his eyes. "A hollow," he says carefully, "is created from a human soul that's lost its heart. They gain a hole in their chests and become ravenous monsters without reason."

"No way," Kanonji says, falling to his knees. "That means… all this time…"

Ichigo blinks down at him. "You're crying?" He thinks he finally sees, beneath the public persona, a man whose ideals are genuine.

The helicopter swoops down overhead, its spotlight drenching the scene. Cheers comes up from the crowd.

"Hey." Ichigo walks over to Kanonji and reaches out a hand. "Get up. The cameras are rolling. Don't cry like a baby on national TV."

Kanonji sniffs loudly, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "You're kind, boy. You are a true hero. You've put me to shame today."

Ichigo glances away with a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Aw, can it."

Kanonji wipes his face and goes over to the railing, looking out over the crowd. He throws back his head and shouts "Bohahahaha!"

The crowd roars.

* * *

Ichigo leaps out of the hole in the building with his sword in tow. It hasn't suffered anything besides a little dust, and he didn't even have to cero an innocent building for it. He lands unseen between the film crew packing up and the crowd starting to disperse and vaults over the cordon.

Rukia runs up to him. "What did you think you were doing?" she demands. "That was unbelievably reckless! And what took you so long anyway?"

"Cut me some slack!" Ichigo says. "There were… a lot of distractions."

"You put a civilian in harm's way," Rukia goes on. "You had an inexcusable amount of trouble with a low-level hollow."

"C'mon. No one was harmed and I got it in the end, didn't I?"

"Yes," says a frosty voice behind him. "I suppose you can at least claim that."

Ichigo spins around to face the Quincy. "You're still here? Shouldn't you have run off already?"

"Ichigo," Rukia says. He doesn't like the sound of that _Ichigo_. "Who is this boy?"

Ichigo crosses his arms. "Ishida Uryuu. Old friend. We tried to kill each other once. Great memories."

Ishida nods at Rukia, resembling an ice statue aside from the movement. "Kuchiki-san. I understand you're the current assigned shinigami. My condolences for getting stuck with this maniac."

"Who are you?" Rukia narrows her eyes. "You aren't human."

"I am a Quincy," Ishida says, "not that I expect you to recognize that term. You shinigami are quite willfully ignorant, aren't you? Just two hundred years ago, but not a one of you remember."

"Hey." Ichigo steps forward. "I don't know what kind of grudge you have against the shinigami, but Rukia has nothing to do with it."

"My intellectual faculties are not _compromised_ ," Ishida says. "I am well aware of that."

His eyes glance over Ichigo and Rukia. "I have a proposal for you, shinigami. Do you truly believe you can defend this town? I'll show you how arrogant you really are."

"Is that a threat?" Ichigo says, barely keeping his voice level. Something about the look in Ishida's eyes leaves him not at all assured. The Quincy had seemed content enough to ignore him for so long. Has Ichigo, in interfering with this fight, finally sent him over the edge?

"We'll have a contest," Ishida says, words all but spat out. "Meet me at noon at Kasazawa Bridge. You'll regret it if you don't show up, I assure you." He turns his back. "I'll prove, once and for all, that the Quincy are superior."

He walks away through the crowd, weaving in between knots of people, as the first streetlamps start switching on.

Rukia turns to Ichigo. "You seem to know him." She's not asking a question, she's demanding an explanation.

Ichigo drags a hand through his hair. "A real pain in the ass. But I bet he's just being overdramatic, like he always does. Nothing to worry over." He frowns. "Probably."

Rukia gives him a look, like she has a strong opinion of his judgment skills and it's not a positive one. "It seemed like you two have some sort of feud going on."

"Yeah, he's got it in for me," Ichigo says. "I thought he was over it, but…" He shrugs. "Well, when I said we tried to kill each other, I wasn't just joking."

"Why?" Rukia says.

Ichigo barks a humorless laugh. "I dunno. Maybe the idea of a hybrid doesn't fit with his pretty little worldview." He turns away. "Forget him. Let's go."

"Well, in that case," Rukia says, "will you meet him tomorrow?"

Ichigo groans. "I don't know. It sounded like he has something big planned. I guess I'd better, just in case."

"Be careful," Rukia says. "He sounds like he'll try to kill you again."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Ichigo says, and the smile across his lips is not all his. "I can take him. Bet on it."

* * *

 _Please review! Reviews are the best!_


	16. the things we stake

Rukia paces across the small length of Ichigo's room, hands behind her back and muttering under her breath. "Quincy… Quincy… hm…"

"Aw, cut it out." Ichigo drops himself onto his bed, feeling the springs creak under him. "Don't blow a gasket thinking too hard."

Rukia flashes him a sharp look. "You are taking this remarkably in stride. I figured someone had to do the thinking, because you're just lounging on your bed over there."

"Well, I dunno," Ichigo says. "Ishida's always had a thing for grandstanding."

"He was threatening this entire town," Rukia says, continuing to pace.

"Was he?" Ichigo flops back on his bed. "Aw, what a pain."

"I envy your carefree attitude," Rukia says. She stops in mid-pace with a sigh, her back to Ichigo. "I hate to say it, but maybe we ought to ask Urahara about this."

Ichigo sighs and stares up at the ceiling. "When we first met, I had no handle on my powers and he thought I was crazy. We probably would've gone at each other again and again until someone was dead. But I guess Urahara intervened. I don't know what he said about me, but Ishida decided to ignore my existence for over a year."

"But he's not happy doing that now," Rukia says.

Ichigo looks up. She's given up on pacing and is perched on the corner of his desk with her chin in her hand. Ichigo sits up, leaning back on his arms.

"What do you expect Urahara-san to do? Call up Ishida again and tell him that I'm a nice substitute shinigami who doesn't bite? I think we're a bit beyond that now."

Rukia shakes her head. "How do you get yourself into these messes?"

"Don't blame me," Ichigo gripes. "Sometimes things go wrong and it isn't even my fault."

He shrugs. "Honestly, I forgot about Ishida. I expected him to get on my case after I became a shinigami, but he dropped off my radar entirely. Though I guess ignoring him was a bad idea."

"Have you told him of your relation to the Quincy?" Rukia says.

"My…" Ichigo frowns. "It never came up."

"Never came up? Really now, Ichigo. That's rather important information! I think he'd like to know!"

"I thought Urahara would've told him," Ichigo says.

Rukia makes a face.

Ichigo leans against the wall, resting his arms behind his head. "Let's let off him for a bit. He'd probably lose it if I told him."

"I don't see how the situation could get much worse."

Ichigo groans. "Don't even say that."

* * *

Uryuu slowly unclenches his hand from around the railing of the bridge. He raises it and conjures up the spirit ribbons around him. His back is to Ichigo's hiding place, and he doesn't move.

His hand shoots out and snatches a spirit ribbon, standing out almost offensively among the flurry of white. It looks like a strip of red silk that someone's poured black ink down the center of, a kind that bleeds out in ragged streaks.

Absurdly, this isn't even as bad as his ribbon used to look. It's hard to tell with the chaotic mixture, but the red and black might actually be in some sort of balance.

He tears off a shred of the ribbon, the ragged scrap immediately starting to crumble into loose strands in his palm. He turns around, tossing it to a passing breeze and watching it fade away.

"How long are you going to wait there, Kurosaki?"

A blur in the air, and Ichigo appears crouched atop the railing on the other side from Uryuu. He flashes a sharp grin.

"So you caught me. I ought to applaud you. Since when did you know I was there?"

"Since you arrived here with Rukia," Uryuu says. "Don't think I'm unaware of her either."

Ichigo's eyes harden at a comment Uryuu had thought was innocuous. "You're not getting Rukia involved in this."

"If you aren't careful, she'll end up involved whether you like it or not," Uryuu says cooly.

This doesn't go over well with Kurosaki. He vaults off the railing, standing almost in Uryuu's face. His voice is carefully controlled. "What do you think you're planning? You may have a problem with me, but that's between the two of us. Fight me if you want to so bad."

He's intrusively close but Uryuu refuses to step back. "I have no desire to do so."

"That's great. Can I leave?" Ichigo says, but he clearly has no intention of backing down either.

"Go ahead," Uryuu says. "It'll just be more proof that you're unfit to defend this town."

"It's about that again?" Ichigo says.

Uryuu glares at him. "It was never about anything else. You were bad enough when you were doing nothing more than taking down the occasional hollow. But now you're bumbling around trying to be some kind of shinigami? What a joke! You act like your constant screw-ups are no big deal. You act like it's a game, when you're playing with people's lives on the line!"

"That's not true!" Ichigo roars, lunging for Uryuu. His hand reaches for his neck.

Uryuu flashes away, raising an arm to defend himself—has he pushed the hybrid too far? But Ichigo doesn't turn to go after him. His hand clamps onto the railing of the bridge and the metal screams and buckles as his fingers curl into a shaking fist. He braces himself against it, breathing hard.

"A game?" Ichigo growls. "That's not true." He lifts his head and searing yellow eyes glare at Uryuu.

"You clearly don't know what you're doing!" Uryuu spits. He's so caught up in throwing the words he hasn't been able to say for so long in Ichigo's face, in watching them hit home, he doesn't think he can stop. It's a surprising and a bit of an exhilarating feeling.

"You think everything always turns out okay? Well sometimes, it doesn't! Sometimes, people get hurt!" Uryuu stops himself from saying any more. Taking rough breaths, he reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a flat white disk. "I think you're going to find that out today."

Ichigo sucks in a breath. "What is that?"

Uryuu pinches it between two of his fingers as he holds it up, feeling how fragile it is. How easily fate can be changed forever.

"Hollow bait. Once I scatter it, hollows will begin to converge on this town." He gives Ichigo a cold look. "I don't know about you, but I intend to protect every soul in Karakura."

Ichigo stares at him with a stricken sort of horror dawning in his eyes. "No! Don't you dare use that!" His hand goes to his sword. "Drop that, right now!"

Uryuu narrows his eyes. A twitch of his fingers and the tablet snaps between them. "No," he spits. "I'll prove to you that shinigami aren't necessary in this world!"

The bait instantly shatters to dust that's whisked away by the winds. Ichigo's eyes flash with rage and he charges, drawing his sword in a gleaming arc of steel.

Uryuu's bracing himself when Ichigo stumbles in mid-step. His eyes widen. He plants his sword in the ground and all but collapses against it.

Uryuu pushes aside the worry that rises from somewhere within him and draws his bow, taking a hasty step back. Ichigo looks up and finds himself staring down the point of an arrow aimed at him. His eyes are completely black and gold, a white mask growing around his left eye. His arms shake, barely keeping him upright.

There's something else that shocks Uryuu more than anything. Ichigo looks scared.

He bows his head, gritting his teeth. Clumsy fingers splay across his forehead and twist into his hair.

"N—no. Stop. Stop!" He shakes his head, a choked noise in the back of his throat. "What are you doing? Snap out of it. No. No… Get out of my head!"

He looks up, inhuman eyes burning into Uryuu's. "Ishida!" he howls.

He pulls his sword from the ground, tip scraping across the concrete with a harrowing sound, and charges. Uryuu leaps back just as the sword cuts through the air where he was standing. Ichigo stumbles and his sword hits the ground. He's breathing in ragged gasps.

Uryuu has no doubt about it at this moment—Ichigo will kill him. It's not a rational fear that clutches at his heart, it's the promise in those eyes. He saw that same look on the night they first met, a year and a half ago.

He backs away. Ichigo glares at him but doesn't follow. Uryuu turns and vanishes in a flash of hirenkyaku.

* * *

"Stop!" Ichigo gasps. "Get back here!"

He stumbles a step forward and falls to his knees. A voice calls his name, footsteps thumping up the bridge behind him. "Ichigo! Are you alright?"

Rukia's hand reaches for him. He knocks her back with a wild swing of his arm. "Get away from me!"

Rukia takes a step back. "Ichigo…"

Ichigo shakes his head. He tries to calm his breathing. "Sorry. I'm alright. Don't worry about me."

"Don't you say that!" Rukia sounds furious all of a sudden. A blow knocks Ichigo's head forward. He's sent sprawling on the ground from the sheer shock of it.

"You can barely stand!" Rukia says. "Don't say anything like 'don't worry about me' ever again!"

Ichigo picks himself up, rubbing at the back of his head, and blinks up at Rukia. "Uh, noted."

Rukia crosses her arms. "I realize by now that you're never going to stay out of trouble and you're never going to flee from danger. But at least let others help you. You don't have to fight every battle alone."

Ichigo stares up at her. "I don't know…"

A hand is shoved in his face. "Get up. Figure it out as you go along, just like you always do."

A small smile flickers on Ichigo's lips. "To think you'd have to tell me that."

He takes Rukia's hand and lets her help him to his feet. Her touch is grounding. He marvels at how quickly he's come to think of her as a trusted friend.

Rukia's brows furrow. "Are you really okay?"

"No, not really," Ichigo admits. It feels like someone's hit him over the head with a sledgehammer. "But I have no choice. The town is under attack."

He turns, lifting his sword with both hands and scanning the horizon. Already, the discordant howls of hollows echo in the streets. Dreadful reiatsu gathers and builds in the air.

"I gotta find my sisters," Ichigo says. "Will you be okay on your own?"

"I'm far from defenseless," Rukia says. "And I have Kon. He's more reliable than he appears, but only just."

Ichigo nods. "Find Urahara. He'll know what to do." For a moment, his voice wavers. "He's gotta know, right?"

* * *

Ichigo's sword cleaves through a hollow's mask. Before it even disintegrates, he leaps over it and lands on another hollow, planting his foot on its chest. He lashes out with his sword and impales its throat to half the length of his blade.

It seems to fall in slow motion underneath him. Another one lunges at Ichigo and he doesn't bother pulling his sword free. Reiatsu swirls around his fist as he swings it at and through its jaw, pulverizing its skull. Blood and fragments of its broken mask go flying.

Ichigo grabs his sword and backs himself against a building, breathing hard. He grimaces, shaking blood from his hand. This isn't how he fights. He feels his hollow's influence sinking deeper into his mind with every time he follows its urges. But what can he do? He has to protect.

Sometimes he forgets, what being a hollow really means. This wild bloodlust and urge to destroy is certainly all too real. His partner reduced to a monster clawing at his sanity—it isn't just a nightmare he's living.

He presses a hand against his forehead and finds his skin clammy with sweat. Where are his sisters? Precious time is slipping through his fingers with every second he doesn't find them. He reaches out for their reiatsu.

Where, where? He can't think, can't focus, not even on two signatures so familiar to him. His fist slams into the building behind him, sending cracks running through the concrete.

He shakes his head. He's gotta find them. He hefts his sword and takes a shaky step towards the direction of their house. School's out so Yuzu might be there. Karin's probably off playing ball somewhere. He can't not find her, he just can't.

* * *

He hopes he didn't give Yuzu a heart attack when she opened the door to see him practically collapsed against the doorframe, half a mask across his face and probably looking like a mental asylum escapee.

"We have to go," he gasps. "Hollows attacking the town. Get you to somewhere safe."

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu squints at him, but her eyes don't quite focus on his face. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know how to answer that," Ichigo says wearily. "Come on. We have to go get—"

He stiffens and turns around. There's a sudden flare of strong reiatsu over the background noise of the roaming hollows. It's subtly different from anything he's known, shinigami, hollow, human. It takes him a moment to realize it's Chad's, many times stronger than he's ever sensed it before.

"What's going on?" he mutters. Just as he's searching for the source of the reiatsu, it vanishes.

He chokes, stumbling a step forward and reaching out a hand helplessly. He closes his eyes, hunting for the last place he sensed it.

There. A shadow compared to its earlier peak. It's still there—he can still feel it. He could collapse with relief.

He turns to Yuzu, picks her up and slings her onto his back. She lets out a small squeak. Her hands clutch stiffly at his shoulders.

"We gotta get going," he says apologetically, and takes off in the fastest sonido he dares.

* * *

Yuzu half-slides, half-drops off Ichigo's back, but he only cares that she lands relatively on her feet. He runs forward.

"Karin!" His eyes scan over the empty lot and find the large form collapsed on the ground. "Chad!"

"Ichigo?" Karin, kneeling over Chad, gets unsteadily to her feet. Ichigo assesses her condition in a second. She looks battered and scraped, hair a mess, clothes smeared with dirt. She's moving well. No major injuries.

Karin runs up, gasping. "Ichigo, you're here! That guy—he's your friend, isn't he? He fought a hollow and collapsed! You gotta help me with him!"

Ichigo kneels down next to him. "Oi, Chad. Chad, wake up! What happened?"

Blood is dripping from his head—his dark hair is slick with it. Ichigo presses a finger to his neck and feels a good pulse. He's not losing too much, then. Chad's reiatsu is a solid presence beneath him. It's weakened, probably from him overexpending it, but still stronger than any normal human's.

Ichigo turns to Karin. "He fought a hollow? How? What happened?"

"I don't know," Karin says. "He was running from one that he could barely even see, but suddenly this armor appeared on his arm and he could see it and then he blasted its head off. What kind of people do you make friends with, Ichi-nii?"

Ichigo's fingers spasm and curl into a fist at his side. "My friends. They'll be targeted!"

"What's going on, Ichi-nii?" Karin says, her tone suddenly serious. "There's a weird thing in the sky and it's giving me a horrible feeling. And don't tell me you have that mask on for fun."

"You two have to get to somewhere safe," Ichigo says in a choked rush. "Hollows are attacking. Urahara—"

"Yes! You called?"

Ichigo looks up to see the man in his green cloak standing atop a nearby fence. He has his cane leaned over his shoulder.

"Do you always gotta arrive in the most overdramatic way possible?" Ichigo snaps. He's running on a short fuse. "Get down from there and help me!"

"Ah, yes." Urahara's by his side in a flash step so fast he can barely trace it. "You're in quite a predicament, aren't you?"

"Why are you here?" Ichigo says wearily.

The shopkeeper gazes down at Chad, hat hiding his eyes. "Things are coming to a head, Kurosaki-san. Your friends will meet with challenges, choices. You won't be able to hold them close and keep them out of danger forever."

"What are you talking about?" Ichigo narrows his eyes. "You have plans, don't you? You're treating people's lives like they're chess pieces. You better not mess with my friends."

Urahara sighs. "It is you who brought them into this world of monsters and spirits. They would have to make a choice either now or later, a choice that you can't make for them." His eyes flick to Chad. "That would be belittling them. Your friends are a lot like you."

"You're putting them in danger," Ichigo says woodenly.

"They won't die," Urahara says. "Trust in them a bit, won't you?"

"Tatsuki and Orihime?"

"Across town. I have Yoruichi keeping an eye on the situation."

"My sisters," Ichigo says. "Can I entrust them to you?"

"They'll be safe," Urahara confirms. "Now go on. You have a town to defend, don't you?"

* * *

 _Please review! Reviews are the best_


	17. how to be a quincy in 5 minutes or less

_"Ishida Uryuu!"_

Ishida's back stiffens. He immediately whirls around and brings his bow up. Rukia, standing to one side, gasps and follows his line of sight to the top of a nearby roof. They look like they'd been having a conversation that was just interrupted.

Ichigo glowers down at the Quincy. His mouth twists into a humorless smirk. "Found ya."

"Kurosaki," Ishida says coldly. "If you have something to say—"

"Nope!"

Ichigo leaps down from the building, landing right in front of Ishida. Before the other boy can move, he lunges and swings his fist into Ishida's cheek with a satisfying smack.

"Just that."

Ishida staggers back, rubbing his face, and immediately distances himself with a reiatsu-enhanced leap. The surprised on his face morphs into an infuriated glare.

In a flash, his bow is raised and his arrow drawn. "I suppose you aren't happy with the way this contest is turning out for you, you crazy hollow?"

Ichigo steps forward, clenching a hand into a fist. "You're a dumbass!" He levels his sword at the Quincy. "I know you have a problem with me, but settle it in a straight-on fight! Don't get unrelated people involved!"

"I'm proving a point, Kurosaki," Ishida says.

Ichigo lets out a harsh laugh. "My sisters and friends could have died. It better be a good one."

"You call yourself a defender of this town," Ishida says, a forced calm in his voice. "Well, I'm proving you unfit to. The way you fight puts everyone around you in danger. It's a miracle you've gotten this far without screwing up permanently."

Ichigo backs up, sensing rage simmering just beyond Ishida's words. "You don't know what you're talking about—"

"Do you think your job is a joke?" Ishida snaps. "My sensei died because of the shinigami! He fought off five high-level hollows single-handedly while waiting for the shinigami's 'backup'. Their backup showed up an hour after he was already dead!"

Ishida has his bow lowered. He's breathing hard. Neither of them even consider attacking.

"Shinigami claim to be the defenders of souls. But when my grandfather, who truly believed in saving human souls, died for their negligence, they didn't even care! They just said he shouldn't have interfered!"

He levels his bow. "That unbearably self-righteous attitude—I've had enough of it. This town does not need a shinigami! This town is defended by Ishida Uryuu, the last Quincy! I won't stand for some brat who calls himself a shinigami messing with my work!"

"I won't stand for a hypocrite," Ichigo says.

Ishida stares at Ichigo. "What—"

"You think I put too many people in danger when I fight, so you unleashed a hollow army on Karakura?" Ichigo's hand curls into a fist. "Who knows how many people you put in harm's way? I'm cleaning up _your_ mess here!"

"The situation is _under control_ ," Ishida says, biting out his words. "If you don't believe me, just stand back and watch."

"Do you think this is what your grandfather would've wanted?" Ichigo yells.

Ishida chokes on air and stares at Ichigo, wide-eyed. He snaps his mouth shut with an audible click, his jaw clenching until his teeth grind.

"Didn't your grandfather believe in peace?" Ichigo says more quietly. "Aren't you just doing this for the sake of your own ego?"

"Shut up, Kurosaki!" Ishida shouts. "You don't know anything about me!"

He draws back an arrow. Ichigo realizes his fingers are dripping with blood, that they're shaking too badly to really aim. Ishida hisses a curse as his fingers slip.

Ichigo snatches the arrow out of the air in one hand and snaps it. He stares down at it as the reishi construct fades away.

"Do you think I don't know how it feels when a shinigami doesn't come for you?"

Ishida chokes on whatever he was about to say and closes his mouth.

Ichigo steps forward, clenching a fist. "I've lost people too! In this world, who doesn't know loss? You better pick someone else to whine to, 'cause I'm all out of sympathy!"

Ishida looks down, breathing hard and shaking. Ichigo's anger slowly fades as the silence drags on.

"Ichigo," Rukia says tensely behind him. "The hollows. They're gathering—"

Ishida turns on his heel. "Very well. There's no need for you to come, Kurosaki Ichigo. I will personally deal with this."

"Hey!" Ichigo says. "There are too many hollows! You can't defeat them all!"

"I don't care," Ishida says. His hands are shaking, held out to his side like broken bird's wings. "I have to."

He runs headlong into the nearby courtyard where a crowd of hollows gathers. An arrow snipes one through the mask, and several more turn to notice him. "That dumbass," Ichigo mutters.

* * *

An arrow skewers a hollow's skull and its body crumbles away. Another one blasts apart a clawed arm that swings for him.

Take a breath. Draw. Fire. The rhythm that has ruled his existence for the past hour.

Uryuu backs away slowly, turning to try and keep all the hollows surrounding him in sight. A huge one barrels forth and Uryuu puts an arrow through its eye. It staggers back with a howl, clawing at it and only managing to snap off the shaft, but shakes the injury off and keeps coming.

Uryuu curses and steps back. He hears a clank of bone armor behind him, a swish of claws slicing air. Whirling around, he raises his bow, catching a set of jagged hooked talons on the edge of it. His arm shaking, he bashes the hollow back with his bow and aims an arrow before it regains its balance.

A shadow looms over him from behind. Uryuu tenses under it and turns, but too slow. The hollow's huge claw raises over his head.

A glittering arc of steel flashes through the air and, with a thud, the arm hits the floor. Out of the sky drops a blur of orange and black. Another slash of his sword takes the hollow's head off.

"What are you waiting for?" Ichigo yells to Uryuu. "Shoot it!"

Uryuu frantically lets his arrow loose at the one before him and it's brought down in mid-leap, pierced through its mask. It disintegrates with a wail.

"Why are you here, Kurosaki?" Uryuu says, breathing hard. "I said I don't need your help."

Kurosaki stands at his back, sword raised. He doesn't turn to acknowledge Uryuu's words. "I'm here to save you, dumbass. And I think I'm just going to disregard what you say."

"Who'd want to get saved by you with that attitude?" Uryuu says.

Ichigo rolls his eyes. "Ha! Like I want to do this? I don't want to look at your face for another second!" He turns and jabs a finger in Uryuu's face. "So don't go running into a crowd of hollows like you're trying to get yourself killed, you got it?"

Uryuu can't help stepping back. Ichigo's reiatsu feels more hollow than human at this point. And he's standing practically in his face. Without looking at him and seeing the brash orange-haired teen, he can't get rid of the feeling that he's going to be attacked.

"Why do you even bother?" Uryuu says. "I'm your enemy. I think we've established that quite well."

Ichigo scoffs. "Don't get the wrong idea! It'd be troublesome if you died. I just kept you alive to use as a meat shield!" He cuts down a hollow who got too close. "Now stop yapping about pointless stuff and fight! Back me up here!"

"How ridiculous," Uryuu says, but he notches an arrow. "Me, a Quincy, fighting alongside you, a shinigami and—" He doesn't know why he cuts himself off. It's clear to anyone what Ichigo is. He's still wearing a mask across his face, his eyes are still gold.

"That again?" Ichigo says. "What does it matter? We have a common enemy, so let's join forces. Neither of us can do this alone. It's logic, isn't it? You like logic."

And why is it that _Kurosaki's_ using it against him?

Uryuu turns his back. "Hmph. Fine. But I'll have you know, I'm just doing this for the sake of my own survival, nothing else."

"And I'm just doing this so I can beat the shit out of you later! So I'll be pissed if you get yourself killed before then!"

Uryuu flashes a sharp smile. "Likewise."

It's surprisingly easy to fight alongside Ichigo. He doesn't get in the way as much as expected and takes apart every hollow that comes near almost effortlessly, letting Uryuu shoot unimpeded. For his part, Uryuu matches him kill for kill. They've eliminated most of the hollows by the time he notices.

"Kurosaki," Uryuu says warily. "The hollows—they're acting strange."

"What are you watching them for?" Ichigo grumbles. "Just shoot them."

"No, look! They aren't paying attention to us anymore. They're all looking at the sky. And what's going on with the sky? The cracks are converging…"

Ichigo looks up at the sky and frowns. "Oh. That looks bad."

Uryuu resists the urge to facepalm.

Ichigo backs up until his shoulder bumps Uryuu's. He narrows his eyes and tightens his grip on his sword. "Something's coming through."

The cracks run into each other and widen, and what's behind the sky is darkness. A death-white hand breaks through, nails clutching at one side of the hole. The sky rips apart with a sound like a scream. Fragments fall and vanish.

A face like a skull descends, glowing pinpoints burning within its eyes. Uryuu realizes it's a mask, of a hollow so big it seems ludicrous to call it one.

"No way," Ichigo breathes. "That shouldn't be here."

Uryuu swallows. "What is that thing?"

Ichigo says it like a curse. "Menos."

The sky is torn down its middle like a curtain, the giant hollow stepping out from it. Its head towers over the tallest buildings around, darkness cloaking its entire body aside from its white mask, its white hands and feet. It advances like a force.

"It's coming," Uryuu mutters. "I don't suppose you have any bright ideas."

"Me?" Ichigo says. "Ideas are your job, four-eyes."

"And sheer destructive power is yours," Uryuu says. "If you can't take it, I don't know who can."

Was that a backwards compliment just then? Uryuu's mind must be addled today.

Ichigo sizes up the menos. "I'll give it a shot," he says, but he looks strangely reluctant.

He charges it with a yell, raising his sword, black reiatsu swirling like a torrent around it and burning on its edge. The force of his reiatsu crashes down on the area. Uryuu wets his lips. This power isn't Kurosaki at all, it's too heavy, too dark. How can it belong to any human?

Ichigo lets out a cry of alarm, or maybe pain, and stumbles mid-step. His knees crash to the ground. His sword falls from his hand and clatters next to him as he collapses, gasping. He grits his teeth and clutches at his face, the mask across it.

"Kurosaki!" Uryuu cries, stepping forward. His senses are screaming _danger_ with the way Kurosaki's reiatsu is flaring, but he can't leave the boy that close to the menos.

Shakily, Ichigo looks up at the hollow, which stares down at him with dull red eyes. It roars and energy builds up in front of its mouth.

"No way," Uryuu says. "A cero?"

It's aimed straight at Ichigo. He stares up at its red glow, something like fear reflecting in gold eyes. Uryuu curses and runs forward. Grab Ichigo, drag him out in time—but the menos could fire at any minute—

"No!" Ichigo screams. "Stay back!"

The menos releases its orb of red light, which surges forward in a rush that fills the whole sky from where Uryuu's standing. Ichigo raises a hand and lets loose his own blast of crimson. The two ceros meet and the air shakes from the clash of reiryoku. Uryuu would find it hard to approach even if he wanted to. The two blasts stay at a stalemate until both dissipate.

Ichigo lets his arm drop, breathing hard. Suddenly, he stiffens and claws at his mask with a hoarse scream, his fingers digging into it and sending cracks across its surface. For all his struggles, it seems to be spreading across his face.

The menos raises a foot and swings the pointed end of it into Ichigo's midsection. He lets out a choked cry, sent flying and tumbling across the ground like a rag doll. He tries to push himself up, collapses, and breaks into a fit of coughing.

"Kurosaki!" Uryuu runs to him. Ichigo lifts his head, blinking at him with dull black and gold eyes.

He groans, picking himself up and cradling his head in his hands. The cracks he put through his mask are slowly healing. It still covers half his face. He wipes at his forehead and frowns in mild confusion at the blood he finds on his fingers.

"Kurosaki," Uryuu says. "Are you alright?"

"You too?" Ichigo grumbles. "I really wish people would stop asking me that." He lets out a small helpless laugh. "Dammit. I don't think I can keep using _his_ power for much longer."

Uryuu looks away. "This is my fault, isn't it?"

A pause from Ichigo. "Are you… feeling sorry for me?"

Ichigo's frowning at him with a puzzled look in his eyes. He's… really trying to understand him. Uryuu doesn't get it.

He forces a light scoff. "Like I'd care."

Ichigo laughs, getting to his feet with his sword as a prop. "Like you'd care, right?" He scowls up at the menos. "Okay. Now what do we do?"

"I have no idea," Uryuu admits. He brushes at his forehead, sweat matting his hair. This isn't right. He's supposed to know what to do, he's supposed to be more levelheaded than anyone. But in the face of this behemoth, the likes of which he's never even seen before, he can't think of anything.

"This shouldn't have happened." Somehow, his voice is shaking. "How could my hollow bait have brought out something like this? It's just not possible!"

Ichigo shoots him a wholly unimpressed look. He sighs and lifts his sword. "I guess I have no choice. I'm gonna go in and hit it with everything I got."

"What?" Uryuu holds out a hand. "No!"

Ichigo doesn't look at him. "If I lose it, shoot me. I'm not kidding either. Take me down with everything you got." His mouth twists into a slight smile. "See you on the other side, I guess."

"No, stop!" Uryuu grabs the blade of his sword. He flinches and draws his hand back at the reiatsu that flares under his fingers, raging like a dark flame out of control. He snatches Ichigo by the arm instead. "Kurosaki! I think I have an idea."

Ichigo blinks at him. "What, seriously?"

Uryuu holds out his bow hand. "Touch your blade to my cross."

"What's that going to do—" Ichigo cuts himself off. His reiryoku, red and black, surges through Uryuu's bow just as the two weapons meet and flares like a wildfire. Uryuu gasps, struggling to bring it under control. It's like handling a live wire, pain coursing through his hand up to his elbow just from touching it. It rages under his attempts to tame it, refusing to be shaped into a solid form.

Uryuu hisses a curse from gritted teeth, his fingers shaking. No wonder why Ichigo only fights with blasts of almost pure reiryoku. This power knows only to destroy. Uryuu can't even convert it into his own. It burns just touching him, and he doesn't dare let any of it into his soul.

"Hey!" Ichigo says. "What are you doing? You can't handle that! That's hollow reiryoku, it's only going to hurt you!"

"Doesn't matter," Uryuu forces out. "This is the only way."

He gasps as the chaotic power within his hands vanishes. Ichigo steps back, shaking his head with a look of distaste. Uryuu lets his bow fade and curls his hand into a shaking fist. Blood drips from his fingers, burns covering most of his skin.

"That's not gonna work," Ichigo says. He holds out a hand. "Here. Let me see that."

"What?" Uryuu fingers his Quincy cross. "This?" He slips it off his wrist, frowning at it reluctantly. He caused this mess though, so if he can do something to solve it… "It's not like you could form a bow, anyway."

"I think I got it," Ichigo says, snatching the silver charm out of the air as Uryuu tosses it. "The form, I mean, when I touched yours."

He closes it in his fist, takes a deep breath, then his reiatsu flares. A torrent of black energy surges from the cross, nearly engulfing him. Ichigo staggers and grabs at it with a cry of alarm. As Uryuu watches in a horrified sort of amazement, he slowly wrestles his power under control, nearly having it explode on him twice. He finally forges it into a curved shape a bit less than twice his height, glowing darkly and flickering at the edges like solid flame.

Uryuu blinks at him, dumbfounded. "You… actually did it? I can't believe…"

Ichigo grimaces, breathing hard. Maybe it's early to say that he did it, because it looks like he's struggling just to keep it intact.

He flashes a strained smile. "So, this is okay?"

Uryuu rolls his eyes. "No, a child could do better. But this will have to do."

Ichigo snorts. "Whatever." He slowly brings the bow up to eye level and takes a shallow breath. "Alright. Come get some, menos grande."

He brings his right hand up to his left and forges a bolt of pure reiryoku, barely shaped. He draws it back at an agonizing speed, inch by inch, biting his lip. His hand shakes with a death-grip on the bowstring.

"Your form is terrible," Uryuu says.

"My bad!" Ichigo snaps. "I've never done this before!"

"Look— spread your feet. Don't tense your shoulder up so much."

Ichigo barely shifts his stance. Uryuu closes his eyes and sighs.

"Here." He walks up, mentally going over his form when he shoots. It's been a while since he's thought of the precise steps involved. He'd practiced until it was instinctive, but Ichigo doesn't have time for that. Can he really teach him?

Uryuu sizes Ichigo up, who's looking at him in confusion. He places a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, guides his elbow around to align with his body, nudges his feet into an approximation of the basic stance. Surprisingly enough, Ichigo cooperates.

"Like this," he says. "One foot in front of the other, and parallel. Turn to the side more. Arm straight. Elbow out. No, not so _tense_."

"This is really complicated," Ichigo mutters.

"Well, we can't all swing oversized steel clubs around," Uryuu snaps. He places a hand over Ichigo's on the bowstring. "Relax this one too. Just hook the string. Here." He shifts the position of Ichigo's fingers. "Keep your hand straight. No, elbow _up_."

"It's too much to remember," Ichigo complains.

Uryuu lets out an aggravated growl. "Fine. Here!" He sticks his hand into the reishi construct of the bow and immediately, crushingly intense reiryoku assaults it, burning like acid on his skin. A hiss of pain escapes from between his teeth.

"Hey, don't touch that!" Ichigo says. "What are you…"

Uryuu bares his teeth in a grimace. "It's fine."

He grabs Ichigo's hands, wrenches them into position, tilts the bow up to aim at the menos. He wets his lips. He's got to account for the different angle his head's at, the different size and power of the bow, all if he wants to hit the menos in the mask. They hardly have time to be missing it.

" _Ishida,_ " Ichigo says insistently, trying to pull away. "I've got this! Ishida, your hand!"

"It's fine!"

He can't feel his fingers. Ichigo's concentrated reiryoku is the most powerful he's ever felt, like a heatless flame surrounding his hand, hungry lashes of energy tearing at his skin until blood drips from his fingers. His hand trembles faintly on Ichigo's, but the bow stays steady.

"Just focus on maintaining the bow," Uryuu says. "I'll do the aiming."

The menos strides forward. Its unseeing eyes stare at them like light from out of a long cave. Clammy sweat beads across Uryuu's skin. His breath rattles in his throat.

"Up," Uryuu mutters, "more to the left. Keep the bow—" His hand grabs Ichigo's on the bow, though he barely has the strength to grip. "—still when you shoot. No need to move. Just—" He taps Ichigo's fingers holding the arrow. " —relax your hand and let go. And don't move the bow."

"Okay!" Ichigo says.

"Now!" Uryuu cries hoarsely.

Ichigo lets the arrow fly. It rips through the air like a bolt of black lightning, faster and with more power than anything Uryuu's ever shot. Uryuu yanks his hand away from the bow and cradles it against his chest. He can't take his eyes off the arrow's flight. Has he misjudged the shot?

The arrow clips the menos in the side with enough force to nearly spin it around, obliterating a chunk of its body. Its jaw gapes unnaturally as it howls, a sound that seems to echo from deep inside it. The blood splattering the ground sounds like pattering rain.

"We hit it," Ichigo says in shock.

"We missed," Uryuu says. "I was planning to destroy its mask in one shot."

The menos lurches towards them, its howl echoing off the buildings and trapping them. Uryuu makes a face. "We'll try again."

He wrenches Ichigo's arm up. "Don't lower your bow! Make your arrow more focused this time."

"Ah," Ichigo mutters. "I got it. Like a cero."

"Don't compare it to that!"

He grabs Ichigo's hand on the bow again. Blood slicks his fingers, dripping across Ichigo's skin. Ignoring the pain, he guides the bow higher and readjusts his aim.

Ichigo draws back another arrow with a honed concentration. It's much better formed this time—the guy's learning.

"Ishida," he says warningly.

"Don't think about me, just focus," Uryuu says. "Raise your reiatsu higher."

"We got it pretty good," Ichigo says. "I bet I can take it now."

"That's a risk."

Uryuu takes a deep breath, focusing on the menos. They aimed too low last time. But if this arrow's more powerful, it'll fly faster too. With the menos this close, the trajectory will be nearly straight. And would it _stop_ moving its head—how can he aim like this?

The menos, nearly on top of them, opens its mouth and focuses an orb of energy. A red glow washes over them.

"You have to be kidding me," Uryuu groans.

"Ishida!" Ichigo says.

"I know," Uryu says, struggling with the bow.

"Aim at the cero!"

"I know!"

The cero rushes forth, red light surging to consume the world. Uryuu's afraid his voice will get lost in its roar. "Fire!"

Ichigo forces more reiryoku into his arrow until its very structure hums with power, then lets go. It scorches the air with a scream in its wake.

The cero crashes into it like a wave and it rips the wall of power to shreds, cutting a path through without slowing. Ichigo holds up the bow as a makeshift shield against the remnants of the cero and throws Uryuu behind him for good measure. Uryuu resents that.

The arrow slices apart the cero straight to the menos's head. Its huge body jerks like a malfunctioning puppet as it pierces its skull clean through without stopping, continuing until it explodes in the air behind it. The menos's wail drills through Uryuu's skull. It staggers back, its body tipping, then slowly fades into wisps of black reishi as it falls.

"It's… dead," Uryuu breathes.

"It worked." Ichigo blinks down at the bow, then laughs self-deprecating. "I don't think archery's quite my thing."

"I agree," Uryuu says. "Only a madman would trust you with one of those. I plead temporary insanity."

"Wasn't that bad." Ichigo snaps his fist shut around the charm and the reishi construct vanishes. He holds the silver cross up to the light, tilting it and watching it gleam.

There's something like a wistful look in Ichigo's eyes. What is he thinking? It's gone before Uryuu can figure out or even be sure what he saw was really there.

He tosses the charm at Uryuu. "Here. Sorry."

Uryuu hooks it clumsily out of the air, nearly letting it slip out of his fingers before he claps it with his other hand. He looks up to find Ichigo watching him carefully.

"Your hand… is it—"

Uryuu interrupts him. "It'll be fine. None of your concern. Now don't apologize to me, because I don't feel like apologizing to you."

"So long as you don't unleash any more hollows on this town," Ichigo says, turning away. His tone is light. Uryuu turns over his words and realizes he's joking.

Ichigo shoulders his sword and walks away. He pauses mid-step, hesitating and seemingly wrestling with himself. "Thanks," he says stiffly.

He walks away before Uryuu can tell him off. He freezes and turns at the sound of clapping.

"Splendid! The two of you actually managed to defeat it all on your own! It's truly as I expected—"

Urahara blinks at the point of a sword suddenly between his eyes.

"Eh? Hold on now…"

* * *

 _Ichigo's true power: to master anything in about five seconds._

 _Thank you for reading. Please review! Reviews are the best._


	18. diplomacy and the opposite of that

Ichigo walks up to Uryuu, who's standing behind his desk and stowing away his school supplies slowly with bandaged fingers. He looks up before Ichigo gets nearer than five paces, already squaring his shoulders confrontationally. Ichigo thought they'd gotten somewhere yesterday, but well, he can't work miracles.

He plows on anyway. "Oi, Ishida. Join me for lunch?"

"Is this because you pity me?" Uryuu says. "Because I don't need that from you."

"Jeez." And he was gonna try being polite, too. "Why do you always have to make things so hard? It's just something nice. I can do that, can't I?"

"You can leave me alone," Uryuu suggests.

"Nah. Don't think so." He grabs Uryuu's arm. "C'mon already."

"What?" Uryuu squawks. He snatches Ichigo's hand but stops just short of prying it off. "What are you doing? Get your hands off me!"

Ichigo shoots him a bland look over his shoulder. "I'm getting you to join me for lunch."

He walks away and hauls Uryuu off-balance.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Uryuu staggers backward. "You bastard!" Ichigo keeps dragging him. "You damn crazy half-hollow!"

* * *

Uryuu pauses in the middle of unwrapping a sandwich. He lowers it and turns to Ichigo. "Why, Kurosaki?"

Ichigo leans back against the railing of the roof. "Don't overthink it. I just felt like it, okay?"

He smirks. "At least our team-up isn't bad, eh?"

"Don't talk about that."

"You're too disagreeable," Ichigo says. "Loosen up a bit."

Uryuu ignores Ichigo in favor of his sandwich. Why is the guy here? He would say it's pity, but he has a feeling there's something else to the gesture.

After a minute, Uryuu sighs and looks up. "Kurosaki, I don't understand your intentions."

"Intentions?" Ichigo says. "Dragging you out here? I just felt like there were some things we needed to get straight—"

"I'm not referring to that. I don't understand who you are or why you fight. Why you helped me. Why you apologized to me."

"Do you need a reason for everything?" Ichigo says.

"To trust you, yes."

Ichigo sighs, tapping his chopsticks against his bento box. "Let's start with introductions, then. I don't think we got around to them properly the first time we met. I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. I have hollow powers. My father was a shinigami. My mom…" He looks at the ground. "She was a Quincy."

"Your mother was—" Uryuu stares at Ichigo, wondering if he heard right. "You're lying."

"I wouldn't."

Uryuu opens and closes his mouth. "That's impossible! What you suggest—a Quincy and a shinigami— Huh?"

Ichigo's waving something in front of his face—a bolt of silk fluttering between his fingers, with a chaotic red and black pattern across it. "My spirit ribbon." He tears off a scrap, threads dissolving in the air, and shoves it at Uryuu's face. "See?"

Uryuu snatches it out of his hand with a huff, then studies the disintegrating silk carefully. Just in the center, one or two strands of blue gleam against the black. He blinks and looks up at Ichigo. "It actually is true."

"Of course it's true!"

Uryuu turns this fact over, fitting it to everything else he knows about Kurosaki. Maybe it's not so impossible after all. "I guess… that's how you could use the bow on your first try."

Ichigo shrugs, leaning back against the railing. "I dunno. It was probably just a fluke."

"You've never had training?"

"Never got the opportunity. My mother died when I was nine."

Uryuu flinches. Nine… six years ago? The last time he saw his own mother conscious. A cold feeling steals through him. Could it be just a coincidence?

Ichigo looks up at the sky. "Both my parents died without telling me anything. About themselves, about me. I kinda… wish I could know. Who my dad the shinigami and my mom the Quincy were. How they met. How they gave up everything they knew to be with each other. If they would be proud…"

Ichigo seems to remember Uryuu's there. He shakes himself out of his thoughts. "Well, that's about it, I guess. Didn't mean to ramble on."

"That can't be it," Uryuu says. "You haven't explained anything. You have a hollow in your soul. Nothing about that?"

"Well, my mom was bitten by a rabid hollow," Ichigo says.

Uryuu gives him a flat look. "What?" Ichigo says.

Uryuu sighs and closes his eyes. "And you're just… okay with it?"

Ichigo pauses, like this is a question he has to think over. "I live. What else can I do? We have things worked out, pretty much."

"Yesterday?"

"Yesterday was a fluke."

Uryuu gives Ichigo a look.

"…what?" Ichigo says. "He apologized. As much as that guy can apologize, anyway."

Ichigo grimaces. He makes an exasperated face.

"You didn't say anything," he mutters to himself. "You just said 'my bad', and then 'blame the Quincy'."

"You're… talking to it," Uryuu says.

"Not it."

"Huh?"

"Not it, him."

Uryuu throws up his arms. "A _hollow_. In your head! And you, what, 'live' with it?"

"He's not so bad."

A heartless monster? A being that devours souls? The thing that toyed with Ichigo during one of the lowest points of his life? Not so bad. Ichigo has a strange way of thinking about things.

A smirk steals across Ichigo's face. "Maybe you two should meet. You obviously have some differences to talk out."

Uryuu rounds on Ichigo. "Wh— _what?_ "

A smile draws across Ichigo's face. When he speaks, his voice isn't his own. "He _said_ , maybe we two should meet."

Uryuu scrambles back. His hand goes for the silver cross on his wrist. "You!"

The hollow lifts his head. Black and gold eyes lock on Uryuu, trapping him under their gaze. "Me. Don't you dare summon that bow, Quincy. Moment you do, whatever truce we have is over."

The hollow looks like he's looking forward to that very much.

Uryuu mentally curses Ichigo. His hand closes over his cross. It's a feat of willpower not to activate it. "I'll have you know," he says tightly, "if you do anything to hurt Kurosaki—"

The hollow chuckles, pressing a hand over his eyes.

Uryuu's fist tightens. "If you do anything to hurt the people in this town—"

The hollow throws back his head in laughter. "And you'll do what, little Quincy? Shoot me? Or is all you can do talk big?"

"I'll do you worse than shoot you," Uryuu promises.

The hollow leans closer, baring his teeth. "You have a death wish? Don't tempt me."

He laughs at the look on Uryuu's face. "Aw, but Ichigo won't let me hurt you. Ain't that sweet? I guess you're the newest addition to the list of people he can't but protect."

Uryuu turns his over in his head. The hollow leans back, arms behind his head, with a snort. "The King's soft."

"You're nothing like him," Uryuu says. "How are you part of him?"

"Ha! Convinced of that, aren't you? You don't want to see King when he's serious." His smile takes on a harder edge. "Get real, Quincy. Everybody has darkness in their heart. And when that darkness consumes everything else, you get my kind."

Uryuu swallows and realizes his throat is dry. "That's great," he says stiffly. "What do you want?"

The hollow scoffs. "Me? From you? Nothing. Stop messing with King. Stop looking at me like I'm gonna rip your face off any second."

"You call him 'King'," Uryuu says.

"Observant. How long'd it take you?"

"What's he to you?" Uryuu presses.

The hollow gives him a long flat look. Uryuu refuses to look away, but the inhuman gaze chills him to the core.

The hollow turns away. "He's the one I protect."

"You?" Uryuu can't help saying.

"Me?" He mimics Uryuu's tone.

"You mean," Uryuu says, "you need to keep him alive or you'll die too?"

The hollow's hand twitches at his side like he's wishing he had claws to sink into Uryuu. "I didn't say you could tell me what I mean."

Uryuu straightens up, tensed to get to his feet if he needs to. "How am I expected to believe that you act in Kurosaki's best interests?"

The hollow narrows his eyes. "You sure don't."

"Wha—"

The hollow shoots him a smile that's the wrong kind of cheerful. "Smashing hollow bait in my face? I ought to eviscerate you."

"I—" Uryuu swallows. What does he say to that? He senses Ichigo's the only reason the hollow's not lunging at him right now. "I'm… sorry."

The hollow's smile fades. He scowls at Uryuu in a way eerily reminiscent of Ichigo. "I'd rather eviscerate you. But hm, for now…" He flashes a grin. "I guess I'll change my plans."

"You're different than I expected," Uryuu admits.

He rolls his eyes. "And you're not quite as trigger happy as I assumed."

"Kurosaki has terrible ideas."

"Ha! For once, we agree."

"Great," Uryuu says. "You mind bothering Kurosaki instead of me now?"

"Oh, my bad, Quincy." The hollow leers at him. "Am I disrupting your lunch?"

"Yes. Your very presence nauseates me."

"You'll hurt my feelings." His expression turns serious. "You asked if you could trust Ichigo. Well, he won't ask you this so I will. Can Ichigo trust you?"

Uryuu searches for an answer. "I'm not his enemy. And unless you do something to warrant it, I guess I'm not your enemy either."

The hollow barks a laugh. "Ha! How cute. It's like you think you can threaten me."

Forget it. They can't get along. Uryuu's hand wraps around his cross. "Alright, that's it, hollow. You want to see me when I'm serious?"

The hollow straightens up, a hungry look in his eyes. "If you can do anything more than make threats, little Quincy."

"Oh, I'll do much more." Uryuu raises his arm. A hand wraps around his wrist. He jerks away. "Hey! Let go of—"

He looks up to see Ichigo's eyes are back to their normal brown. He raises an eyebrow at Uryuu. "Let's not today."

Uryuu gives him a dry look. "Oh, you're back."

He can tell Ichigo's trying to hide a smile. "You sound annoyed."

Uryuu seats himself with a huff, adjusting his glasses. "You deal with that guy all day? How are you still sane?"

Ichigo snorts. "Aw, now. You two were getting along fine."

"I'm going to take back what I said about you."

Ichigo looks at him with an unreadable smile. "You know, I'm surprised you worry about me so much."

Uryuu twitches. "Me worry about you? You're dreaming it."

Ichigo grins. "I distinctly remember you threatening my inner hollow on my behalf. I appreciate the gesture, but try not shooting my body while he's inhabiting it."

"I'll shoot you right now, Kurosaki. Stop talking and eat."

* * *

"What's this? A note?"

Ichigo picks up the square of paper at the corner of his desk and turns it over. Pictures of rabbits. Well, okay. He rips it open and unfolds the sheet inside.

"The heck? This is gibberish. And what's with the shitty pictures?"

"Hey!" says Kon, standing on the desk at his elbow. "I won't let you say that about nee-san's drawings! You simply don't have the ability to appreciate her artistic skill!"

Kon launches himself in a flying kick and his foot bounces off the side of Ichigo's head. Ichigo looks over to see him thud on the floor.

He turns away, slapping the note against his desk. "'Have fun decoding it'? Seriously? And what kind of a clue is this weird squirrel-thing with a caterpillar as a tail?"

"Hey! Help me up!" Kon cries from the floor.

Ichigo rolls his eyes. Without looking, he hooks a foot under Kon and kicks him up, ignoring his 'oof'. He grabs him out of the air and sets him on the desk, still studying the note.

"…or is it a weird raccoon-thing. A tanuki? Oh, I see. I remove the 'ta's."

He picks up a pen and tastily scribbles them all out. He frowns at the note.

"…I must go… don't… look for me and don't worry about me?" His frown deepens. "Hide out for a while. If they find you, they'll go after you too. You know who I'm talking about."

He sets it down. "What…"

"I told you!" Kon says. "I told you! She's abandoned us! Oh, nee-san, how could you do this to us?"

Ichigo slams the note down on the desk. "Dammit! What is she thinking?" He turns, staring out past his bedroom walls. "Soul Society is after her because of me, aren't they? She's in danger because of me?" He grabs Kon. "C'mon. We've got to go after her."

* * *

"Know this before you die!"

The raised edge of a katana reflects streetlights.

"I'm Abarai Renji! The man who killed you!"

The blade comes down in a flash and stops dead in Ichigo's hand before it reaches its target. It slices into his palm with an edge of pure cold. Ichigo smirks at the shinigami, straightening up from his landing. The man has red hair tied back in a mess of spikes, tattoos over his eyebrows, and an absolutely dumbfounded expression on his face.

"What the hell?" He tugs at his sword, causing Ichigo to tighten his grip. "Who are you?"

Ichigo ignores him and glances over his shoulder at the figure sprawled brokenly across the ground. "Ishida. Care to introduce me to your friend?"

Uryuu coughs, stirring and propping himself up with difficulty. "My friend? Kurosaki, you bastard."

Ichigo turns his gaze to the pool of red spreading across the pavement where Uryuu lies and forces himself to look away. Uryuu can move and speak, and he's not losing too much blood. He'll be alright. He's got to be. Ichigo glances over to Rukia.

"Ichigo," Rukia says, staring at him with a look of horror. "No way. Why?"

"I think you know why," Ichigo says. His gaze falls on the cut across Rukia's face, blood running down and covering her cheek.

His teeth clench. His hand clamps around the shinigami's sword so hard it trembles. Blood drips from between his fingers. He hadn't even felt the cut.

He springs into motion and rips the sword out of the shinigami's hands, knocking him back a step. Flipping his grip on the hilt, he raises it over his head and stabs it down, point-first.

The sword rebels against him the instant he touches it. It's a snarling beast in his hands, just waiting for an opening to snap at him—he can't get rid of that notion. The redhead shinigami leaps aside, letting the sword bury itself in the concrete, and Ichigo leaves it there, withdrawing.

The shinigami—Abarai Renji—sneers at him as he snatches up his sword. "So, you're another human with a death wish, is that it? Seems to be no shortage of you people today."

"That's not quite it," Ichigo says. He snaps his fingers in the air. "Kon!"

"Eh, what?" Kon pops his head up from the roof where Ichigo had left him. "Why me? I don't wanna get involved in this!"

"Do it for your Rukia-nee-san!" Ichigo snaps. "Get down here!"

Kon leaps off the roof and Ichigo snatches him out of the air. "A talking stuffed bear?" Renji says. "What _is_ that thing?"

"You don't need to worry about it," Ichigo says, busy wrestling with Kon with a hand stuffed in the bear's mouth. He fishes out the green pill and swallows it. The disconcerting feeling of his soul being forced from his body follows.

He draws his sword. Behind him, Kon says from his body, "I'm just a gikongan, I'm not a mod—"

Ichigo whacks him across the head. "Get out of here!"

Kon scampers away, rounds a corner, and is gone. Ichigo leans his sword against his shoulder, sizing up the two shinigami. The other one is staying unobtrusively off to the side, seemingly happy to let Renji handle everything. Ichigo can't be fooled into overlooking him. His reiatsu is too tightly controlled for Ichigo to tell his power, but it speaks of danger, of ruthlessness like cold steel.

Renji narrows his eyes at Ichigo. "You're a shinigami? No, I see now. You're the human who stole Rukia's powers."

Ichigo narrows his eyes. "What of it?"

Renji growls. "Because of you, there's an execution order on her head! She'll die!"

"What?" Ichigo jabs a thumb at his chest. "It's not her fault! I stole her powers! You just said it, didn't you?"

"Ichigo!" Rukia cries. "What are you saying?"

Ichigo holds up a hand to stop her. "Whatever rules she broke, I forced her into it!" He slashes a hand through the air. "I guess you better arrest me! If you can, that is!"

"Stop!" Rukia says.

"Shut up!" Renji's sword crashes into Ichigo's in a clatter of steel. Sparks fly through the air. "Who do you think you are? You're just a human! You think you mean anything to the higher-ups of Soul Society?"

His next strike throws Ichigo back. "Don't try to give your life for her, because your life's worth nothing!"

Ichigo braces his sword against his arm as Renji's blade screeches against its edge. He throws Renji off and backs away, gasping.

"How can you do this? She's one of you, isn't she? You're sentencing her to death!"

Renji's slash breaks through Ichigo's block and bites into his shoulder.

"Stop yapping about things you don't understand, human! These are the laws of Soul Society!"

His blade slams into Ichigo's again and sends Ichigo staggering back. Ichigo grits his teeth as blood pours from his shoulder. He wills it to heal but slowly, enough so that hopefully the shinigami won't notice.

He straightens up, breathing hard. "Well, I guess I'll just have to stop you and take Rukia back."

"Ha!" Renji points his sword at him. "At your level? You have zero hope of standing against a lieutenant and a captain of the Gotei 13!"

Ichigo growls under his breath. He tightens his grip on his sword as reiryoku floods through the blade. He slashes it through the air. "Say that again after _this_!"

A blast of black energy rushes from it and consumes the night in its wake. Renji leaps out of the wave of destruction, gasping and cursing. Burns cover his arm and one side of his face. He whirls around in midair just in time for his blade to meet Ichigo's, who drops on him from above and slams him into the ground.

Renji lands on one hand and flips to his feet. He glares up at Ichigo, wiping his mouth. "What the hell was that? Who are you?"

Ichigo leaps out of the sky, the blade of his sword shattering slabs of pavement as his feet hit the ground. He brandishes it at Renji. "I'm the one who's gonna kill you!"

"Do not let your guard down." Ichigo flinches as the second shinigami speaks from behind Renji. "This boy is Kurosaki Ichigo, the one who took down the menos grande that appeared in the human world. He is not to be underestimated."

Ichigo stares at the shinigami. He hasn't moved from the spot. Isn't his comrade in trouble? Does he not care?

Renji jabs a finger at Ichigo with an affronted look. "Him? This fool took down a menos?" He throws back his head and laughs.

"You…" Ichigo growls. He lifts his blade and ponders what part of the redhead he should stab.

"I apologize, captain, but that's impossible! He's just a human messing around with powers he can't use! Look at him swinging around that ridiculously-sized sword! He obviously has no control over his reiatsu!"

The captain doesn't respond.

"You!" Renji thrusts his chin at Ichigo. "Tell me, what's the name of your zanpakutou?"

Ichigo freezes. Name? Of a zanpakutou? Urahara's said something about that to him once. He looks down at the sword. "Name…"

Red hilt. Flame pattern on the guard. Tassel hanging off the end. Blade wide as a handspan, as long as he is tall.

"I've got no name for it," he says, clenching its hilt. "I guess you'll just have to suck up being defeated by a nameless blade!"

He charges, swinging.

"Ha! I thought as much!" Renji says. "You're two thousand years too early to face me!"

 _'You never even thought about it.'_

Ichigo nearly stumbles mid-step. _''Hollow? What are you—'_

The voice is quiet, like a threat. _'Did you think that blade you wielded was just a tool?'_

 _'No,'_ Ichigo says, _'I never…'_

Renji leaps into the air, raising his sword. He swings it forward. "Howl! Zabimaru!"

In a flare of reiatsu, the katana morphs shape to a heavy blade with jagged spears like teeth lining its edge.

 _'The name of a zanpakutou…'_

Renji swings his sword down. Ichigo raises his blade to block.

 _'As if you ever deserved to hear something like that!'_

The segments of Renji's sword separate and lash out, fangs digging into Ichigo's shoulder. Blood runs down his back.

"What are you saying?" Ichigo mutters. Somewhere in another world, he realizes he's falling. "You couldn't be…?"

His knees strike the ground. He looks up to see Renji whipping his sword around his head, swinging it forward for the kill. "It's all over now, boy!"

Ichigo throws himself to one side, asphalt pressing into his knees and palms. The head of Renji's sword strikes sparks along the ground next to him. He clutches his shoulder, blood coating his hand.

He closes his eyes. _'Help me. Aren't you going to…'_

No response. Ichigo's hand finds the hilt of his sword.

 _'Fine. I'll beat him by myself.'_

He lunges with a hoarse cry. Renji's sword swings toward him and he braces himself as it crashes into the flat of his blade in a clatter of metal. He knocks it aside and leaps into the air with shunpo. Renji retrieves his sword with a flick of his wrist, but looks up and, from the alarm in his eyes, judges he'll be too late.

This has gone on long enough. Ichigo's chance is now.

Swinging his sword down, he glimpses a blur of white in the air before him, a flash of steel. He turns his sword in a block and feels the impact jar his hand as the edge of another blade meets his, then shears clean through it in a grind of metal.

He staggers with a gasp, whirls around to see the captain standing off to one side. He might've never moved from the spot, except he holds half of Ichigo's broken blade in one hand and his unsheathed sword in the other.

His eyes narrow. "I see. So you can follow my movement."

He lets Ichigo's blade fall and hit the ground with a metallic clatter. His sword is held loose in his hand, his eyes scanning Ichigo as if considering all the vital spots he could aim for.

Ichigo's hand clamps around the hilt of his sword to prevent his fingers from shaking. So this is a captain. He's too fast.

"No," the captain says. "You are a mere human. It is impossible that you could do anything to stop my blade."

"Captain!" Renji says. "You don't need to step in. I'll deal with him."

"This has gone on far too long," the captain says. "We are not here to fight this boy. I'll end this in an instant."

"Byakuya!" Rukia cries. "Stop!"

Ichigo clutches at his sword as he takes a shaky step back. His eyes are on the captain's every move. But the captain has vanished. When?

The gleaming tip of a blade shoots out of the dark. Ichigo's hand grabs it. He doesn't register the pain of its edge slicing into his fingers. It's already plunged through his chest.

Ichigo gasps for a ragged breath that chokes in his throat. Byakuya stands before him, regarding Ichigo like he's a minor irritation, a bug that someone else should've cleared out of his way.

He rips his blade from Ichigo's hand. Blood splatters across the ground. Ichigo's sword falls from his slack fingers, clattering on the ground a thousand miles away. He clutches at the wound in his chest, unable to stop blood from soaking through his fingers.

 _'Ichigo!'_ the hollow howls in his mind.

Ichigo stumbles a step forward. His foot jars on the ground. He looks up but Byakuya is behind him

The next strike is in his back. Cold steel is buried in his gut and withdrawn in an instant. This time, his knees hit the ground.

Rukia screams his name. He hears her footsteps lunge toward him and abruptly cease. "Don't go to him!" Renji shouts.

"No! Let go! Ichigo!"

Ichigo grits his teeth and forces his head up. Rukia strains toward him against Renji's grip, tears in her eyes. "Why? Ichigo, I told you to stay away!"

"No," Ichigo gasps. He tries to get to his feet and falls. He props himself up with one hand, staring at the dark patterns of blood across the ground.

"No. I won't let you take Rukia. I won't let you kill—"

His hand claws across the ground for his sword, fingertips scraping against rough concrete.

"It's my fault. Rukia! Rukia, I'll save…"

"You can't do a thing for Rukia!" Renji says. "So just lie there and die quietly! Save yourself the trouble!"

Ichigo lifts the hand clutching at his chest, stares at the red dripping from his fingers. He squeezes his eyes shut.

"Help me." His voice is a ragged whisper between his lips. "I'll give you my body, so help me! Save Rukia!"

 _'Stop talking nonsense!'_ the hollow snarls. _'I don't fight for anyone but you! The girl can die for all I care, but you can't die for her!'_

"Damn you!" Ichigo screams. "I hate you! You don't get to decide that!"

Renji scowls down at him. "What are you blabbing about?" He turns away. "Forget him! Rukia! Come quietly, or it'll just add to your sentence!"

"Don't you dare—" Ichigo gasps. His hand falls on his sword, fingers wrapping slowly around its hilt. "Don't—"

"Stop!" Rukia cries. "Ichigo, please stop fighting!"

Her hands clutch at the arm Renji has hooked around her chest. "Ichigo, this isn't your conflict! This isn't worth dying over! Stay there! Survive! Don't you dare go after me!"

Byakuya watches her. He turns away with a flap of his coat. "Very well. We shall go. Whether the boy lives or not is inconsequential. Those two strikes have destroyed his saketsu and hakusui. He will never again wield spiritual powers." His footsteps stride away. "Open the gate."

"No." Ichigo's hand reaches through the air. "Stop. Kill me, you bastard!"

Byakuya doesn't turn around. Rukia's violet eyes steal a fleeting glance back at him, then the three figures are engulfed by the white light of the gate.

And all around him, rain is falling.

* * *

 _If you don't remember/know what the clue on Rukia's note actually meant, she drew a tanuki and tanuki can also mean "remove 'ta'". And then she threw a bunch of random ta's in her note._

 _Apologies for late update._

 _Thank you for reading. Please review. Reviews are the best._


	19. standing back up

"Gah! Get away from me!"

"Ah, good! You're awake."

"W-what are you doing on top of me? You're too close! Get off!"

"Boss! Kurosaki-san is awake!"

Tessai gets off Ichigo, which is thankful, because Ichigo would find it hard to shove that man off him even without injuries. He sits up and immediately winces, clapping a hand on his shoulder at the bolt of pain that runs through it.

His wounds are bandaged. He's lying on a futon in a room he quickly recognizes is one of Urahara's. He's not dead.

"Ah, Kurosaki-san." The shopkeeper himself pushes open the door and walks in. "Good to see you up. How are you feeling?"

Ichigo half-shrugs, then winces again. "Like shit."

He flexes a hand, then raises it and curls it into a fist. Trying to call upon his reiryoku—something that should be as easy as breathing to him—he slams it into the floorboards.

Nothing. His knuckles ache.

"Oh dear," Urahara says. "Please don't tell me you just tried to destroy my floor."

Ichigo stares at his hand. Suddenly, he finds it hard to speak. Byakuya's last few words to him keep ringing in his ears.

"Well?" Urahara says. "You've lost your powers. You're not much more than a normal human now."

Ichigo squeezes his eyes shut, resting his head against his knees. Byakuya spared him? Well, this isn't mercy!

"Do you hear me?" he growls under his breath. "Your power is mine. So why don't you just obey me?"

He blinks. His breath hitches. "Hollow?"

His hand presses against his forehead. "Say something! Hollow! Respond to me!"

He's shaking. He can't breathe. He hates the raw desperation in his voice.

"You bastard." His voice wavers. "Can't you hear me?"

Urahara steps closer. "Kurosaki-san…"

Ichigo hunches his shoulders. "What do you want? Shut up!"

"Kurosaki-san," Urahara says, more insistently. Ichigo lifts his head an inch. The man is looking at him with—not pity, just unreadable grey eyes from under the shadow of his hat.

"What if I told you," he continues, "that what Byakuya could take from you was your current spiritual power only?"

Ichigo jerks his head up and stares at Urahara. "What… do you mean…"

"That whatever he does to the power you borrowed from Rukia, he cannot touch the original shinigami powers that lie dormant within your soul."

Ichigo's fingers curl in the fabric of his jeans. "And you can awaken them?"

Urahara turns, walking away. His hands clasp his cane behind his back. "If, somehow, your powers were to be restored, would you run off to Soul Society to try and save Kuchiki-san?"

Ichigo's hands curl into fists at his side. "I would."

Urahara turns, regarding him. "You would risk your life?"

"Yes!"

"You would do battle with a captain-class opponent once again?"

Ichigo flinches slightly, but he lifts his chin and glares at Urahara. "I'll battle any of them."

Urahara turns away. "I cannot, in good conscience, send you on a suicide mission." He raises a finger. "I have one condition."

"Don't make me agree to a promise I can't keep," Ichigo growls.

"Ten days," Urahara says. "Allow me to train you for that amount of time. If I have not misjudged your ability," Steel eyes fall on Ichigo like a challenge, "ten days will do it. I'm not sending you to Soul Society before then."

"Ten days?" Ichigo struggles to stand up. "That's too long. You heard them. They're going to kill her."

"Sit down."

"I don't have time to wait around! This is her life on the line! I'm going whether—"

The end of Urahara's cane is suddenly pointed at Ichigo's face. "Sit down, please, Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo glares at him, breathing hard. Slowly, he sits back down.

Urahara taps his cane against his hand. "The Soul Society typically has a thirty-day waiting period before executions. There is no need to charge in unprepared. You'll have time aplenty to rescue Kuchiki-san, but you're no help to her if you die on the way. Do you understand that?"

Ichigo scowls at the floorboards. "Fine. Ten days. And after that, what?" He gives Urahara a skeptical look. "Will I be able to fight Byakuya?"

"Well now," Urahara says, "I can't say." He glances at Ichigo from underneath his hat. "That depends on you."

Ichigo clenches his hands into fists. "Restore my powers."

"Are you sure?" Urahara says. "This is the last time I'll ask. It won't be easy."

"I don't care. I'll do it if it kills me."

"Oh, it won't," Urahara says. "You'll just wish you were dead."

* * *

"Ichigo-kun."

"Oh." Ichigo's footsteps stall but he doesn't turn around. "Inoue."

Orihime's feet patter along the sidewalk as she speeds up and draws alongside him. She peers up at him with bright grey eyes. "Is something wrong, Ichigo-kun?"

Ichigo's shoulders twitch. "Huh?" He forces himself to meet her eyes evenly. "Nothing. I'm fine. Why?"

"You aren't acting like yourself," Orihime says. She studies his eyes like she can see something even he can't in them. "Is it because Rukia's gone?"

Ichigo stops walking. "You remember her."

"I remember a lot of things," Orihime says quietly. "Like the night when you were at my house. What happened with my brother. After that, I started seeing things. Ghosts, I guess. And a few days ago, a hollow attacked Tatsuki and me."

Ichigo winces. "You guys didn't get hurt, did—"

"No, no!" she says too quickly. She beams. "Actually, I defeated the hollow using my hairpins."

Ichigo looks at the tiny crystal flowers gleaming in her hair. "Your hairpins."

"Yup! It was really amazing! Would you like to meet them?"

"Um…" She just said… meet them?

She pulls them from her hair and holds them out. "Wake up! Come on out! Um… transform!" She shakes them, then puts them near her ear. "Hello? You in there? Aw, come on, guys!"

Ichigo's lips twitch into a smile. "That's alright. I'll take your word for it."

Orihime giggles sheepishly and sticks the pins back in her hair. "I don't really know how to use them."

"Well, that's not good," Ichigo says. "You should be able to fight if another hollow shows up."

And it just feels so wrong to use the word _fight_ in relation to this girl… but he might as well face reality, right? Someday he might not be able to protect his friends. Someday like now.

"Hey, you're doing it again!"

Ichigo looks up. "Huh?"

Orihime pouts at him. "Sulking! You've been all day. Don't look like that! You were super cool, you know."

"Cool?"

"Yeah, that night." She smiles softly, glancing away. "You were hurt, but you still defended me and Tatsuki. You helped my brother find peace."

Ichigo sighs. "I'm not that great."

"You did your best," Orihime insists.

"Well—" Ichigo's breath hitches. His hands curl into fists at his side. "Well maybe my best isn't enough."

"What really happened to Rukia?" Orihime says quietly.

"Rukia went home."

"Home?"

"Back to Soul Society." Ichigo shakes his head. "No, she didn't go. She was taken."

Orihime mouths the word, trying to understand it. Taken.

Ichigo turns away, staring at the clouded sky. "There was nothing I could do. I _was_ nothing to these people. Barely an inconvenience." He clenches his teeth. "They told me she was going to get executed. Because of me! If only she never met me, her life would be happier. She'd be exterminating hollows in this town and I bet she'd be better at it than any of the shinigami before her, and if our paths ever crossed I'd pretend I couldn't see her, and after her assignment was over, she'd go home and she'd live the rest of her life! She wouldn't be a criminal awaiting her own execution!"

He whirls on Orihime. "You too—you were attacked by a hollow, you were hurt, because you met me! Aren't I just a curse?"

"N-no!" Orihime yells. She freezes, like she's trying to make sense of this outburst from her own mouth.

"I don't regret meeting you." Her words become firmer as she speaks. "I could become strong because of you—because you taught me what strength means. I found the power inside me to save Tatsuki. It hurt, it was scary, but it was worth it! And… I think you know that too, right? That's why you fight."

Ichigo stares at Orihime. The steel in her voice and the fire in her reiatsu—she really has changed. He tears his eyes away. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I really am not myself today."

Orihime flushes and looks away. "Oh, um, I didn't mean to say all that." She laughs uncomfortably.

"I know," Ichigo says. "Thank you anyway."

"So," Orihime says. "When are we going to rescue Rukia?"

Ichigo stiffens. "We?"

"She's my friend too," Orihime says. "I don't want her to die either."

"It's too dangerous," Ichigo says tightly. "You'll get hurt."

Orihime bites her lip. "It's not okay for you to get hurt either!"

Ichigo turns away with a sigh. His shoulders slump. "I can't stop you, can I?"

"I know you'll save Rukia," Orihime says. "You wouldn't let anything get in your way."

Ichigo huffs a breath. "You're right. I'll train and get stronger. And I'll beat Byakuya and any other captains who try to stop me. Any less and I wouldn't be able to face Rukia."

Orihime beams. "Yeah!" She taps her hairpins. "And I guess I better learn to use these. I won't hold you back, okay?"

"About that," Ichigo says. "I know a friend who might help you."

* * *

Ichigo holds up a hand as they approach Urahara's shop. "Yo, Yoruichi."

Orihime gasps. "A kitty! Aw, it's cute!"

Yoruichi sniffs. "Do not refer to me by such terms."

"A talking kitty!" Orihime tries to hug Yoruichi. She slips out of Orihime's arms and leaps onto Ichigo's shirt, clawing her way up to his shoulder. She perches there, tail winding around Ichigo's neck, shaking her fur back into place.

"I suppose this is one of your classmates?" she says.

"Uh, yeah." Ichigo gestures to his shoulder. "This is Yoruichi-san. My mentor." He nods at Orihime. "And this is Inoue Orihime."

Orihime cups her chin in her hand, leaning toward Yoruichi. "So this is Ichigo-kun's mentor."

"Don't be fooled," Ichigo says. "She's not actually a— ow! Get your claws out of me, dammit!"

He tries to bat her off his shoulder. She slinks to his other shoulder, then hops on top of his head. Ichigo growls under his breath and leaves her.

"Well then, Ichigo." Amusement tinges Yoruichi's voice. "Why might you have brought her here, hm?"

"I was gonna ask you a favor," Ichigo says.

Orihime steps up and drops into a bow so low he's worried she might topple over. "Yoruichi-sensei! Please teach me!"

Ichigo shrugs like _well, there you go_.

Yoruichi's tail twitches against Ichigo's neck. "How interesting."

"Get off my head," Ichigo says.

* * *

The shop door swings open before Ichigo lays a hand on it, and Urahara pokes his head out. "Ah! Kurosaki-san. You're here!"

"Yeah, yeah." Ichigo sidesteps him and enters. "When are we starting?"

"Now's as good a time as any," the shopkeeper says cheerily. "I've opened the underground training room."

Ichigo nods and makes his way through the shop to the trapdoor in the back. He's about to grab a rung of the ladder and swing himself in when he looks down and freezes at the edge. It seems like he's never really noticed before how _long_ the drop is. For the first time, if he falls off this ladder, he's liable to break every bone in his body, without the regeneration to deal with it.

"What are you waiting for?" Urahara's voice is suddenly behind him. "I thought you were in a rush to get started."

A cane jabs him in the back. Ichigo stumbles forward and his foot comes down in midair. He snatches at the rungs of the ladder and only manages to scrape his fingers raw.

Ichigo did _not_ scream all the way down, and anyone who claims otherwise is in league with Urahara and therefore cannot be trusted.

He falls until he slams into something hard but softer than the ground. Groaning, he looks up to see Tessai, who has him in his arms. "Splendid entrance, Kurosaki-san," the man says.

"Let go of me," Ichigo growls. He pushes himself to his feet and limps away, muttering choice insults about Urahara under his breath.

Urahara lands on the ground behind him in a flap of his coat. He lifts his cane. "Well then. Are you ready?"

Ichigo shifts apprehensively. "Ready for what?"

He sees Urahara's cane coming this time but still can't do anything before its end slams into his chest, knocks him from his body, and sends him tumbling across the ground until he lands in a tangle of limbs. Cursing, he picks himself up and immediately almost falls, barely propping himself up on his hands. His breath rattles in his throat. He looks down, wrapping his fingers around the chain at the center of his chest, which trails across the floor to his unconscious body.

He's wearing his normal clothes. For the first time, he's just another human soul. He can barely even stand.

Weak. Powerless. That's him.

Gritting his teeth, he fights through the air and staggers upright, hanging his head as he gasps for shaky breaths. His fingers clutch at his soul chain with a faint clinking sound.

"Here we start, Kurosaki-san, whether you're ready or not," Urahara says.

Ichigo lifts his head, glaring at Urahara. "What am I supposed to do? Aren't you going to tell me anything?"

Urahara lifts a finger. "Hold still."

"What? Wait, what do you—" Ichigo throws himself back as Tessai hefts an axe and swings it down, but he realizes it's not aimed for him when it slams into the ground, smashing the links of his chain under its blade. For a moment he freezes, trying to process.

He gapes at Tessai, then at Urahara. "You— you said you weren't going to kill me!"

Urahara puts on a show of looking thoughtful. "Did I say that? Well, if all goes well, it'll only be temporary." He flips out his fan. This time, it doesn't hide a smile—his eyes that peer over it are uncommonly serious. "On the other hand, if all doesn't go well, not being able to return to your body will be the least of your worries."

"You bastard," Ichigo says.

"I did warn you." Urahara levels his cane at Ichigo. "You agreed to this out of your will to save Kuchiki-san. So now I'm going to put you through hell." He gestures to Tessai. "Bind his arms."

"Yes, boss." Tessai slams his hands together. "Bakudou #99: Kin!"

Ichigo lunges away but black ribbons wrap around his arms and bind them behind his back. He stumbles mid-step and falls on his face, his jaw cracking painfully against the ground. Cursing, he tries to push himself to his feet.

"Now!" Urahara waves his cane with a flourish. "Shattered Shaft, go!"

Then the floor drops out from under Ichigo and he finds himself falling from a ridiculous height for the second time today.

Urahara leans over the edge, peering down. "Ah, perfect placement once again. I still got it."

Ichigo hits bottom and the impact of the ground drives all the breath from him. He has no desire to get up this time, lying in the dust gasping and mentally cataloguing all his body parts to make sure he hadn't broken anything. His ribs scream every time he breathes. He's going to end up with an impressive set of bruises at least. He gets to his knees with a groan.

He's at the bottom of a nearly circular hole, the sky a perfect cutout of blue above him. It looks so far away from down here. Except that's not the real sky, not deep underground in Urahara's basement. A hopeless feeling he can't explain steals through him.

"Seventy-two hours!" Urahara calls down. "There's your time limit to regain your shinigami powers and escape that hole. Don't dawdle now!"

"That's impossible!" Ichigo shouts back.

"Is that so? You better give it your best shot anyway. Let me ask you, what happens when the chain of fate fully decays?"

"No," Ichigo breathes. And even as he says it, everything clicks into place around him with the surety of a guillotine. Why would Tessai use a 99th level spell on him? It's way overkill for restraining a human soul, but might be enough to keep a powerful newborn hollow down.

"At the bottom of that shaft," Urahara says, "encroachment will be completed in just around three days. At the end of that period, if you've regained your powers, you'll escape and live happily ever after. But if you don't, you'll become a hollow, for real. And that'll be the end for you."

"You're kidding me!" Ichigo yells. "Get me out of here!" He whirls around to Tessai, who's seated on the floor behind him and concentrating on his bakudou. "Release me!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," says Tessai.

"Then I'll make you!" Ichigo snarls, and charges headlong at the man.

He doesn't make it all the way. A sharp pain lances into his chest and his knees meet the rocky floor. He kneels, gasping for shallow breaths that do nothing more than make him lightheaded, staring at the end of the chain on his chest. The last link has become gnashing mouths, tearing and devouring their way up steadily to his heart.

Encroachment. Seventy-two hours. And when it reaches his heart, the last link, it's all over.

No. No no no no no— and he realizes he's speaking aloud.

"Stop this." His voice comes out as a hoarse croak. "Get it away from me!" He lunges forward and crashes to the ground, his own panting breaths and his desperate cries ringing in his ears. "Why are you doing this to me? You bastard— you bastard! You're really trying to kill me, aren't you?"

He twists his head to Urahara standing at the top of the pit. The man's too far away and his face is shadowed by the light behind him, leaving it impossible for Ichigo to make out his expression.

He curls up on the floor, gritting his teeth. This pain—he's felt it before, hasn't he? His sisters screaming and the howl of a hollow and his father cut down, and he's left to make a deal with his own demon and give up his heart and a part of himself forever, and there's just the darkness and the laughter—

"Stop! Stop! Make it stop!"

He's screaming but it feels like someone else, a voice he has no control over. How long now? How much longer does this have to go on? Dammit, if he was just a hollow already, at least he wouldn't have to endure this, would he?

Urahara's voice echoes from the surface a long distance away. "It's starting, Ichigo. I'd hate to have to slay you by the time this is over."

* * *

 _Me: I'm bored. Nothing is happening in this scene._

 _Me: I think I'll throw Ichigo off a ladder._

 _I'm probably making canon Ichigo look bad by coming up with a way better way for him to get out of the shaft than "run straight up the walls". Not that he's going to be any more successful attacking Tessai._

 _Thanks for reading. Please comment! Comments are the best._


	20. the nameless

How long has it been? Urahara's artificial sky doesn't keep time.

He's lost track of the number of encroachments. That's not good, is it?

There's about half of his chain of fate left. He glares dully at the hateful thing. He wishes it was gone. No, wait, he doesn't mean that. As long as it remains, he still has time left.

Time for what?

He gets up with a groan, slowly so his legs won't give under him. He slumps against the rock wall of the pit, its uneven surface digging into his back.

 _Hollow._

 _Help me._

 _At least laugh at how pathetic I am, come on._

He squeezes his eyes shut. Is this how weak he is? Can't he do anything by himself? But it's not just that, it's the haunting void inside his soul that he can't bear. He usually wishes the hollow would leave him alone, except for now when it's gone and he'd give anything…

Most people get along perfectly fine without a psychopath voice in their head. What does it say about his sanity, him acting like this?

He shakes his head. What's he doing feeling sorry for himself? People are depending on him. He's gotta survive.

He straightens up and plants his feet in front of Tessai. The man is sitting cross-legged on the ground with his hands clasped together in a sign. He lifts his head to frown at Ichigo. "Are you going to keep trying?"

"Until you let me go."

Tessai shakes his head. "Your persistence is admirable, but you won't reach me like that."

"Try me!"

Ichigo charges at him. He doesn't get within ten feet before he crashes into a glowing barrier that appears out of nowhere in his path. He dodges past it and is immediately met with another. He kicks it as hard as he can, the impact jarring his leg and sending him staggering back. The barrier doesn't even tremble. He shakes it off and rams it with his shoulder.

Reeling back with a scream, he slams his head into it. Pain flashes through his skull, his vision swimming in and out. He slumps against the barrier, staring at the droplets of blood splashed over it.

"It's time you stopped," Tessai says. "You're only hurting yourself."

"Like I would rather be turned into a hollow!" Ichigo screams near hysterically. "No thanks!"

He tries to charge forward again but collapses to his knees before he takes a single step. He can feel the dull sting of a dozen or so scrapes and bruises across his body. Most of them, he doesn't even know how he got. His breath claws at his throat.

He's not giving up. He's got three days. Tessai has got to let down his guard sometime. Heck, he's got to sleep sometime.

But how much of the three days does he really have left?

His eyes flick to the top of the pit where Urahara's sitting, but his pride won't let him ask how long it's been.

His cuts sting as sweat drips into them. His clothes are a dust-smeared mess. He picks himself up and limps over to a wall, his feet barely leaving the ground, and slumps down against it, leaning his head against his knees with a sound like a whimper. He stares unseeingly at the ground.

How much time has passed? His sisters and his friends must miss him by now. All he's left them with, even Chad and Orihime, are vague excuses. What if they never see him again?

That can't happen.

Get up.

He stands and charges at Tessai again.

* * *

"You've gotten awfully quiet down there, Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo glares up at Urahara balefully.

"You want to holler something so we know you're not a hollow?"

"When I get out of here," Ichigo says in between ragged breaths, "I'll rip out your entrails with my bare hands. Does that count?"

"Hm." Urahara flips out his fan. "It makes me a lot more reluctant to let you out of there."

Ichigo scoffs and drops his gaze back down to the wall in front of him. "I'm not giving up," he says quietly.

"Is that so?"

Ichigo bows his head. "I'm not…" But he can't even fool himself.

Urahara is silent for a moment. "Are you aware of how much time has passed, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo glares at the ground, clenching his teeth.

"You aren't, are you? It's all too easy to lose track of time in this place." He sighs. "Well, I'll just tell you. You've been down there for nearly seventy hours."

Ichigo lifts his head. He can't feel any alarm at Urahara's words. Maybe he's just too tired to process. "I have two hours left?"

"Mm, I don't know. Seventy-two hours is an estimate."

"You don't _know_ how much time I have left?"

He looks down at his soul chain. There's a few inches of it left. He's gotta still have time.

Bracing himself against the wall, he staggers to his feet. "Let me go."

"Boss," Tessai says, "do you really plan on going through with this?"

Urahara presses his lips together. The look in his eyes answers.

Ichigo straightens up. "No. Dammit, I won't let you do this to me!"

Trying to take a step forward, he blinks when he falls to his knees. The pain he's gotten so accustomed to over the past days stabs through his chest again. But this isn't the same. It burns like poison through his veins and makes his every breath agony, like nothing he's ever felt, like his nightmares and worse.

"Stop."

He stares at the chain. All the links have become mouths that rip at his chest.

"No, no, don't do this!"

There's no response from the two watching him. The two who did this to him.

"Urahara!" he roars.

 _Your fault. You're trying to hurt me. You're trying to kill me—I won't let you! I'll destroy you myself!_

He can't breathe, can't think in the face of the agony that's tearing apart his heart and shredding his soul and doing its best to destroy all that is Kurosaki Ichigo. He's fought it for too long. Can't he end it all?

No, not like this. It _will_ not end like this!

A white liquid chokes his throat and forms into the all too familiar sensation of a mask across his face. His thoughts evade his grasp. Who is he? Why is he still resisting?

There's only darkness now, consuming his vision, ensnaring him in its depths. If it can take the pain away, he welcomes it.

* * *

Sunlight, insistently striking his closed eyelids, calls Ichigo awake. He opens his eyes to an unfamiliar scenery.

Glass-filled skyscrapers tower around him, stretching sideways to the limits of the horizon. Sunbeams rebound off their windows. He finds himself lying on one. No, he's lying on the side of one.

All this he couldn't care about. He can't spare a thought for anything besides the pain insistently gnawing at his chest, piercing all the way to the core of his being and pulling him apart piece by piece.

He'll do anything to make it stop. Who did this to him? Who does he have to kill? They should suffer too, as much as he has.

Soft footsteps cross the building, getting closer. Ichigo doesn't look. He curls up on the surface of the cold concrete, clutching his chest. A choked whimper comes from his throat.

"Well, aren't you in a sorry state," a familiar voice says, deceptively softly.

Ichigo looks up, blinking to focus his sight. He stares into the same piercing yellow eyes that have haunted his dreams ever since that October night so long ago. They're the eyes of someone with the same face as him, the same hair but white, wearing a shihakushou with colors reversed.

So this is him. The shadow in the dark. The monster in the mirror.

"Help me," Ichigo says.

The hollow scoffs. "Begging? That doesn't suit you."

Ichigo narrows his eyes at him. "You—you never came. Couldn't you hear me calling to you? Didn't you care?"

Something softens in the spirit's eyes. A shadow of pain flickers across his face. "I couldn't answer."

"It's all the same to you, isn't it?" Ichigo growls, glaring up at him weakly. "You're a hollow. You probably wanted this all along. You want my body."

The hollow bares his teeth in some parody of a smile. "Are you fucking with me? If I want something, I'll take it for myself, and someone as pathetic as you couldn't stop me." His steps approach, drawing right next to Ichigo. Ichigo struggles upright. In a single swift movement, the hollow leans down and grabs him by his shirt, dragging him up to his face.

"Let's get this straight." The soft hiss of his voice belies the threat in his eyes. "I'm not a hollow."

"What do you mean?" Ichigo says. He thinks back to what the spirit said to him during his fight with Renji. The genuine rage in his voice back then matches the look in his eyes.

The hollow stares down at him coldly. He throws Ichigo back against the building and stands, turning away. "Time's running out."

Ichigo pushes himself up to a sitting position. "Aren't you going to answer me? Who are you?"

A deep tremor runs through the building with a rumble that resonates in his bones, like a sound on the edge of his hearing. Buildings in the distance start to crumble, pieces falling away in eerie silence.

"This goes on, this world that represents your soul will be destroyed," the hollow says. "So you better find your shinigami powers in, oh… _now_ would be great."

"I don't know how to do that!" Ichigo says.

A groan shakes the building under him, followed by a sickening lurch. Whatever strange gravity passes in this world suddenly flips. Ichigo shouts in alarm and his fingers scrabble against the surface of the building, nails clawing painfully at rough concrete until he reaches a window ledge his hand can catch. He looks down to find himself dangling a hundred meters above the ground. What, is this supposed to be something funny?

His hollow just stands in midair above him, watching him with a calculating amusement in his eyes.

The shaking intensifies. The buildings around him are collapsing, breaking down into countless white boxes. The same begins to happen to the one he's on, high above him.

"It's starting," the hollow says. "You better stop fooling around." He waves a hand around. "Within one of these boxes is a blade. My blade. Find it before this world completely crumbles, or…" He chuckles dryly. "You won't want to be around for what happens next."

Ichigo looks at the hundreds or thousands of white boxes, all identical, raining from the sky around him. "How? That's impossible!"

"Too bad!" A foot comes down on his hand. He flinches and his fingers lose their grip on the ledge. He finds himself falling.

"Whine, whine, whine, that's all you do!" The hollow leers down at him, perched on the ledge. "I can't wait to see you fail pathetically and become a hollow!"

"You bastard!" Ichigo yells.

"I bet you don't have the guts to prove me wrong!" the hollow yells back.

Ichigo doesn't hit the ground. A dark rift in the world opens up under him and a cold ocean engulfs him. He gasps and water fills his throat. After a moment of panic, he finds out he can breathe fine.

Too many boxes to count fill the water around him. How is he supposed to find one out of all of these? He couldn't do it if he had hours, but he suspects he has less than minutes remaining.

Think. You can't just check all of these. There has to be a better way. Think!

Reiatsu sensing? He can't sense anything different from the boxes and the shaking of the world is making it impossible to concentrate. What if he visualizes reiraku?

He reaches out and dozens upon dozens of ribbons materialize in a white flurry around him. He picks out the red one easily and snatches it out of the water, clamping his fist around it. "Got it!"

He yanks the box to him and its lid falls open, revealing the hilt of a blade. He realizes it's his blade.

"You actually found it."

Ichigo turns to see the hollow standing behind him. Despite the taunting tone in his voice, his smile is tempered by a softer edge and there's something that might be approval in his eyes.

"You don't have to act so surprised," Ichigo says.

The hollow snorts. His expression shifts into something like panic, the smile vanishing from his face. "Why are you dawdling? Pull the damn sword out!"

Ichigo makes a frantic grab for the hilt. As he draws the sword free, a bright flash fills his vision and everything disappears around him.

* * *

Ichigo blinks awake. What's going on? Where is he?

His arms are free. The air is filled with smoke and dust and the broken remnants of a kidou spell. This painfully familiar sensation—there's a mask across his face?

He fights his way through the smoke and collapses to his knees, coughing and gasping. His hand goes to his chest, feeling his heart beating way too fast but no hole. He stares down at his hands. Human. He's wearing a shihakushou again, his sheath a comforting weight against his back.

Looking up, he sees Jinta and Ururu frozen in front of him, tense and poised to attack.

"Hi," Ichigo groans. "Don't kill me."

Jinta gapes at him. "You survived!"

He almost sounds disappointed, the little brat.

"Congratulations!" Ichigo twitches as Urahara's cheery voice rings out. "You've successfully completed this task. I knew you'd do it!"

"Can it, hat-and-clogs!" Ichigo whips his sword—still broken—out of its sheath and points it at Urahara.

"My, my, don't be so testy!" the shopkeeper says. "Since you survived, it's time we move on to your next task."

"Does the next task involve killing you?" Ichigo growls. "Cause if not, it's gonna have to wait."

"I like that spirit!" Urahara says, but there's a sly edge to his smile. "If you come at me with that sort of attitude, you just might succeed. This lesson's quite simple. Use that zanpakutou to knock off my—"

He has to duck back to avoid Ichigo's sword lashing out for his head, edge barely an inch from his face. "…my hat."

"My bad," Ichigo says. "I thought you said your head."

A coy smile flicks over Urahara's face. "A good first attempt," he says, dusting at his hat. "But I won't just be standing here." He raises his cane to arm height, grabbing the shaft and slowly drawing a thin steel blade from it. "It's starting now, Kurosaki-san. Don't waver. Keep your heart and blade steady. Otherwise, you _will_ die."

He raises the sword, blade down. "Awaken, Benihime."

* * *

 _Thank you for reading. Please review! Reviews are the best._


	21. the moon fang

Ichigo leaps from one rock to another as Urahara shatters them with bolts of crimson energy under him. He deflects the next blast with his sword, but not completely and it grazes his wrist. He winces and cradles it, watching the scorched skin heal.

His head snaps up as Urahara appears behind him, sword swinging down at his head. Ichigo raises a hand and catches it, the edge biting into his palm. His grip slackens and Urahara yanks it out of his hand, changing directions and swinging it at him faster than he can follow. Ichigo leaps back as the tip slices through the air an inch from his chest. Claws form on his free hand, and he swings it down at Urahara.

He's not sure what happens. He doesn't even see Urahara's blade move, just a flash of metal before it tears across the inside of his arm and his hand falls limp. Ichigo skids to a halt and freezes as he finds Urahara's sword pointing at his face.

"No, no," the man says with a half-smile curling on his lips. "I said with your sword. Or I'll kill you."

Ichigo finds his heart's racing and sweat is dripping down his back. How can only Urahara do this to him? The man steps back, sword leaning over his shoulder, watching him as his arm heals.

Ichigo pushes his regeneration to go faster and charges. He stops, ducks as Benihime's blade flies past his head, jabs with his broken sword. A clash of steel jolts his wrist as Urahara brings his blade back around with impossible speed to block. He turns Ichigo's sword aside with a deceptively easy motion and lashes out, blade liquid silver like a whip. It slices through Ichigo's mask.

"Gah!" A flash of pain seems to hit Ichigo's very core. He stumbles back over his feet, flailing at Urahara with his sword, and his back collides with a rock wall. His fingers touch his face and come away with blood on their tips. He feels for the injury, but whatever cut's there has probably already healed.

The cool edge of a blade brushes against his neck. "Don't let your guard down, Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo grabs Urahara's sword as he makes to pull away, yanking it toward him. His zanpakutou comes just within a millimeter of Urahara's hat.

"Oh my," Urahara says. "Not quite."

Benihime swings at Ichigo and he catches it on his blade. His hand trembles as he struggles to hold Urahara off.

"Good effort," says Urahara. "But that won't stop her. I'm sorry, but Benihime just woke up and she's a bit bloodthirsty."

A chill runs through Ichigo. Benihime clatters against the shaking blade of his sword, then its edge bites into the solid steel. Ichigo hisses through his teeth and tries to pull back. Her blade cuts through the metal before he can and shears off another inch of his sword.

Ichigo spares a second for standing there in disbelief, then turns and runs. Dashing around crags and over boulders, he doesn't manage to shake Urahara off his tail. He curses under his breath all the while. How is he supposed to fight with a broken sword? Especially fight this man, and without even using his other powers?

He's not blind to who Urahara is. He'll die if this goes on, it isn't a spar, it isn't a game—though you'd think it is by that never-changing smile on Urahara's face. Ichigo's way out of his league.

Goddamn. What is he doing, fleeing like this? Ichigo plants his feet and turns back to face Urahara, raises his sword—but what does he plan to do with it broken? It couldn't go up against that blade in Urahara's hands, singing for death and humming with bloodlust every time their swords cross.

Urahara's charging him and he hesitates fatally and misses his chance. He ducks the swinging blade, veers past Urahara, and then he's running, running just to survive with his heart hammering nonsensically in his chest and his hand clamped to the hilt of the only weapon he has. And this feeling, twisting in his gut and bitter on his tongue—fear.

 _'Stop running away!'_

Ichigo stops dead in shock.

 _'If you run,'_ the hollow says, slowly, deliberately, _'I'll kill you.'_

Ichigo stands stock-still. His breath flutters in an almost-whisper on his lips.

 _'I don't serve weaklings, King. C'mon, don't you have me? Didn't I swear to stand behind you? Don't you_ trust _me?'_

 _'Of course,'_ Ichigo says.

 _'Then why are you afraid of him? I entrusted my blade to you! With your power and mine as one, nothing on earth can hold us back!'_

Silence falls across the battlefield until he can hear wind stirring dust along the ground. Even Urahara has stopped behind him, watching.

 _'Discard your fear,'_ the hollow says quietly. _'Look forward. Advance. Don't ever stop moving!'_ Its voice resonates in his mind. _'Turn back and you will age! Hesitate and you will die! Now! Call my name!'_

Ichigo senses the power flowing through him, breathes it, feels it resonate deep inside him, a part of him and the blade he's wielding. His hand clenches around its hilt.

 _"ZANGETSU!"_

Power flares from his blade and surrounds him, whips a cloud of dust from the ground around him, surges from him into the sky as a pillar of light. It fades and he stands, raising the sword in his hands. He finds a huge cleaver forged from metal black as a midnight sky, humming with power and purpose at his side. A white bandage flutters from its hilt.

 _'Zangetsu,'_ Ichigo whispers. A strangely familiar name on his tongue. _'You're really—'_

The spirit smiles, but its mixed with a sadness that Ichigo can't figure out. _'Your zanpakutou.'_

 _'I'm sorry I could never protect you properly. I'm sorry I hurt you. I want you to be strong. Seeing you on the days your parents were killed… I didn't want you to ever be hurt like that again.'_

His voice is solemn in a way Ichigo's never heard before. An apology? He didn't think…

 _'Do you trust me? Truly?'_

 _'Of course,'_ Ichigo says. _'Why do you still think you have to ask?'_

 _'Ha! You're annoying. I don't know why I bother talking to you.'_ He grins. _'C'mon. Let's take the bastard shopkeeper down.'_

Ichigo looks up. "Urahara!"

"Hm?" The shopkeeper peers up from under his hat. He glances at Ichigo's sword with curiosity and a hint of satisfaction.

Ichigo smiles grimly. "Try to dodge. Try really hard."

He raises his sword. Urahara finds the seriousness in his eyes and his own widen in alarm.

Ichigo brings his sword down. _"Getsuga Tenshou!"_

The crescent of black energy cleaves the ground apart and surges to the ceiling, sending cracks through it and knocking loose dust and chunks of rubble. The whole cavern shakes. Ichigo takes a step back, breathless at the force of the attack. It couldn't even be considered the same thing as what he used to throw around. He searches for Urahara, but the darkness is too deep to see anything.

Slowly, it fades away. Ichigo finds himself standing at the edge of a ravine gouged deep into the ground, so much that the bottom's lost in darkness from where he's standing. Dust chokes the air around him. As it dissipates, he catches a glimpse of a blood-red shield shining in the middle of the blast. Urahara's behind it, clothes tattered around the edges and covered with dust, blood dripping from one arm, but none too worse for wear otherwise.

He flashes a grin at Ichigo. "Phew! Quite impressive, I must say! You've always had a tendency for overkill."

His hand reaches to his head and finds his hat missing. He looks to the ground, where it lies in the dust several feet away. He makes a disappointed noise, picking it up and inspecting it. "Oh dear. You could've just knocked it off, you know. That was a perfectly nice hat."

Ichigo points his sword at him, breathing hard. "I win… Urahara!"

"Why, yes," Urahara says. "I suppose congratulations are in order. You certainly outperformed all of my expectations. You deserve to rest, after all your efforts."

"I don't need…" Ichigo staggers and plants his sword in the ground to brace himself. He sinks to his knees next to it.

Woah. He's a lot more tired than he realized.

"Maybe a bit," he mutters. As his hands slip from his sword's hilt, Urahara's there to catch him.

* * *

On a shelf near Ichigo's bed, an alarm starts to chirp. Ichigo stirs in his sleep and buries his head in his pillow with an incoherent grumble. The insistent sound seems to only get louder as it goes on. Ichigo snaps awake and slaps a hand down on the alarm harder than really necessary. He tilts the clock's display toward him and blinks until the numbers focus. 1:00 AM.

He sits up with a groan, scrubbing a hand over his eyes. His gaze turns to his window and the pitch-black sky outside. So it's time, huh?

He pushes it open and leans on the windowsill, shutting his eyes as a cool breeze blows past. Just what kind of message does he need to leave his window open for anyway? Can't Urahara call like a normal person?

Stupid question. Forget he said anything.

His eyes snap open at the sound of something whistling through the air toward him. He ducks just in time. A white package hurtles through his window and hits with a large splat against his closet door.

Ichigo leaps out of bed. "Gah! What the hell!"

A dark red ooze is splashed against his closet. Ichigo cringes. It looks awfully like blood. Shit, that better wash.

The blood drips down, leaving patterns that he realizes are meant to be words.

"Gather in front of the shop immediately?" he reads. What the hell? It looks like a dying message written in someone's own blood or something!

The bloody goop keep dripping down, spelling out more words.

"P.S." Ichigo reads, feeling more and more irritated as he goes. "If you think this is some cliche like a dying message written in a victim's own blood, you… have no sense of humor?" He lobs a pillow at the message. "To hell with this guy! Zangetsu!"

 _'What's your problem?'_ the spirit grumbles. _'Cut it out with the freaking yelling, I'm trying to sleep.'_

"I'm going to kill Urahara!"

Zangetsu considers for a second. _'Now that, I might wake up for.'_

* * *

Ichigo leans over a table in the kitchen, scribbling down a note by the faint moonlight coming in through the windows.

 _Btw Yuzu. Sorry for that crazy mess in my bedroom, Urahara did it. I'm pretty sure it's not actual blood. But if you can't get it off, bug him until he feels guilty—actually, do that anyway._

His pencil hovers indecisively over the paper. What can he say? What sentence can convey how he feels, leaving his sisters alone like this? How can he fit everything he needs to tell them onto this small note?

 _Stay safe, you guys. I should be back in two weeks or so._

 _I_ will _be back._

He holds the note against the refrigerator and a magnet clicks it into place. Someone'll find it in the morning. Yuzu'll probably be disconsolate. Karin might hate him.

Leaving the kitchen, he hesitates in the hallway leading to the door, looking back into the darkened house.

He'll just have to apologize properly to the two of them when he returns. With Rukia in tow. And all his friends unharmed.

"Goodbye, then." He turns away, puts a hand on the door. Behind him, footsteps creak across old boards in the house and patter quickly downstairs. Ichigo turns to see Yuzu at the foot of the stairs, rubbing sleep out of her eyes with one hand, but her expression tense with worry.

"Yuzu," Ichigo says. "My bad. Did I wake you?"

Yuzu shakes her head. "Where are you going, onii-chan?"

Ichigo tries to answer but her words run over him. "Why were you gone for so long last week? And now you've just come home, but you're leaving again? Why do you never tell us? Why aren't you ever around? How come lately, you've been acting so sad?"

"Yuzu, I—" His voice sounds hoarse. He swallows and tries to speak again, but before he gets a word out, Yuzu rushes across the room and throws her arms around him. Her voice is buried in his shirt. "Please don't go."

Ichigo kneels, letting a hand rest on her head. She looks up to him, blinking away tears.

He sighs. "I gotta. Soul Society took Rukia. It's my fault they did, so I'm going to bring her back."

Yuzu's fingers clench in his shirt and her bottom lip trembles.

"Come back real soon, okay?" she whispers. "And don't you get hurt, okay?"

Ichigo smiles slightly. "Got it."

He straightens up, carefully disentangles her fingers from his clothes, and turns to the door.

"I know you'll get her back," Yuzu says behind him. "You're stronger than anyone."

"Oh," Ichigo says. "I don't know." His thoughts turn back to his fight with Byakuya and he's glad she can't see his face at the moment. A fight that one-sided can only be called an execution.

"Bye," he says. He closes his eyes. When the thought comes to him that this might be his last goodbye, he can't find the words for anything else.

He takes off in a flash step.

* * *

Partway to Urahara's shop, he finds Orihime running and drops out of the sky next to her, slowing to keep her pace.

She looks up. "Oh! Ichigo-kun! You got the summons too?"

"Don't tell me," Ichigo says. "He lobbed one of those things at you? I thought he did these things specifically to piss me off."

Orihime blinks. "Why would he do that?"

"Forget it," Ichigo says. He looks at Orihime. "I guess you're really coming, huh."

"Sado-kun is too. I asked him and he said he wasn't going to let you fight alone. Yoruichi-san trained us together."

"Chad…" Ichigo stares at his feet as his steps cross the ground. Instead of feeling assured, there's a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He imagines his friends, powers barely awakened, facing down Byakuya. He imagines them looking to him for guidance in a place where one wrong decision means death.

"Ichigo-kun?" Orihime says, watching his face carefully. "I'm sorry…"

"No." Ichigo shakes his head. "Don't apologize."

They round a corner and find the Urahara Shoten within sight. Chad, sitting on a box outside, stands up as they approach.

"Hey," Ichigo says, nodding to him. He pulls to a stop, breathing hard.

They study each other's eyes. Chad nods back. Ichigo can see the determination in his gaze. Asking him to go home, or even if he's sure about his choice, would be an insult.

"Is Ishida-kun coming?" Orihime says, doubled over and gasping next to him.

"Ishida's coming?" Ichigo says.

"I don't know," Chad says. "I don't think so. He said he had no obligation toward shinigami."

Ichigo sighs. "I suppose he still hates my guts too."

"I can speak for myself," says a voice behind him.

Ichigo turns around and sees the Quincy, clad in white robes. "Ishida! So you actually came! Knew you couldn't stay away."

"Let me make this clear," Uryuu says. "I have trained, and I am coming along on this mission, for the purpose of a rematch against the shinigami. Kuchiki Rukia is of no concern to me. You can deal with her, if she matters so much to you."

Ichigo grins. "Whatever you say." He turns to the door and kicks it open. "Oi! We're all here, Urahara!"

The shopkeeper pops his head out of an adjoining room. "Ah, very good. Come on in."

* * *

Urahara snaps his fingers and a rectangular frame appears in the middle of the underground training room. "The senkaimon," he says with satisfaction. "Listen up please, everyone! It's time I explain something rather important—how to get through without dying."

Ichigo's friends stop chatting and admiring the huge room and turn to the shopkeeper.

"This gate connects to Soul Society via a realm called the dangai, a pocket dimension which acts as a buffer against intruders. This portal can only stay open for four seconds. If you don't make it in that time, you will be trapped in the dangai forever."

He taps the side of the portal with his fan. "Furthermore, a current called the kouryuu flows within the dangai. If even one part of your spiritual body touches it, it will entrap you and you will be unable to leave the dangai within the time frame."

Ichigo sees a hush fall over his friends.

"What do we do?" Orihime says.

"Go forward," says a deep voice.

"Yoruichi!" Ichigo looks down to see the cat padding toward them on silent paws.

She fixes her gaze on them. "If your heart is firm, the will to go forward will be your guide. Don't stop. Don't look back. Don't think of those you are leaving behind. Simply advance."

Ichigo looks at the faces around him. Chad, Uryuu, Orihime. No doubts.

He steps forward. "You don't have to tell it to us. We're ready."

Yoruichi nods. "Good." She turns to the portal. "On my command."

Urahara and Tessai charge reiatsu into its base and the space within the frame flares with white light, nearly blinding.

"Go!" Yoruichi cries.

Ichigo charges forward, his friends behind him. Yoruichi's small figure fades in the harsh glow ahead. Following, Ichigo lets the light surround him.

* * *

 _Wow, that was a pretty lame place to end off. I'm glad I continued this now._

 _Please review! Reviews are awesome! On we go, to the Soul Society arc!_


	22. hard way to the afterlife

_Wow, I'm actually updating this! Believe it._

 _I'm sooorry for the long time I went without updating. I fell behind on schedules, I got lazy, etc etc. But I gotta try to update more, even if it might have to come slower._

 _To be honest the only reason I'm writing this fic is because it's the easiest one for me to write, and I'm wrangling a college schedule right now. But that doesn't mean I don't have fun things planned! "Fun." Ha ha ha ha._

 _So, in the interest of me getting off my bum and actually writing something, Seeking Destiny will continue through the Soul Society arc!_

* * *

"What is _with_ the shinigami's decor?" Ichigo mutters as he charges through the dangai ahead of the collapsing walls of grey goop chasing him, purposefully limiting his speed to keep pace with his friends. "This tacky passage is their front door?"

"Well, actually," Yoruichi says with an undertone of amusement, "this is the guest door. A real shinigami would bypass this entirely."

"Then why can't you?" Ichigo grumbles.

"Uh-uh-uh," Yoruichi says. "I'm just an exceptional cat."

Ichigo huffs, exasperated, and turns his head to check on his friends. Chad and Orihime are sprinting all-out and puffing, and that stupid little cape on Uryuu's Quincy getup is seriously tempting fate. Behind their group, a yellow light glares out of the haze like a single eye, and it's getting brighter.

"No," Ichigo mutters to himself, "it's getting closer." And scarily fast.

"Uh, Yoruichi?" His voice creeps up a decibel. "What's that thing...?"

She looks over her shoulder and hisses, fur bristling in a ridge along her spine. "Dammit, Kisuke! That's the Koutotsu. If it hits you..." She glances back again. The spotlight is much closer, and now Ichigo can glimpse a huge shape made of the same grey slorp as the walls, surging forward like a tidal wave.

"...let's run faster, shall we?" she says.

He and Yoruichi are now leading their party by a good margin. Ichigo turns on his heel and flashes back, right next to Orihime, scooping her up by the waist and slinging her over his shoulder. She stiffens against him, letting out a small squeak of alarm and clamping her fists in the back of his shirt. Ah, he should've given some warning. He'll have to apologize later, when they're out of this death tunnel.

Ichigo keeps pace with Chad, glancing uneasily behind him every other second.

"Uh, Yoruichi-san," Uryuu says, in between gasps. "What did you say this thing did?"

"Ah," Yoruichi says. "If it touches you, it'll hurl you back in time centuries at the minimum and rip your body apart with the strain." She sounds far too casual. Of course, she doesn't have to worry about being hit, seeing as she's a good stone's throw before any of them.

Directly ahead on their path, Ichigo glimpses a rectangular doorway opening in the gloom, glowing with almost blinding daylight.

"Go, go, go!" he shouts, grabbing for Uryuu's shoulder and dragging him forward by a handful of white fabric. Uryuu makes an unevocative squawk. Chad grunts and puts on an extra burst of speed.

They break through the doorway, the light momentarily drowning their surroundings and Ichigo not finding any footing under him. They're in the middle of the sky, standing over a run-down village that looks like a period reenactment set, high enough to see over the roofs of houses for several streets around. Oddly enough, it seems to be late afternoon instead of midnight. Next to Ichigo, Yoruichi simply goes limp as she falls through the air, seemingly not surprised in the least.

Grumbling about a certain mad scientist shopkeeper under his breath, Ichigo puts on the brakes and stays standing on a reishi platform in midair, accidentally on purpose dropping Uryuu to steady Orihime on his back.

Chad lands on his feet, arms spread for balance. Uryuu lands on his face in a sprawl. Ichigo glances around from his vantage point. "We're here, huh?"

The very air feels different from his world, charged with reishi and filling him with a rush of energy when he breathes. He's standing over dirt roads, the thatched roofs of old but clean-looking wooden houses. Over on another street, he sees a guy run from the sight of them and take cover behind a storefront. Not another soul around.

"Oh!" Orihime says, peering the other direction on his back. "That part of the city is so white and shiny!"

"Huh?" Ichigo glances back. Behind him, the village abruptly changes to the outer limits of an imposing city full of towers of polished white stone, tiled roofs and streets, and all so clean he can't find a single speck of dirt. If right now he's in an Edo-period village, then barely a stone's-throw away is an Edo-period imperial capital.

"Is that where the shinigami live?" Orihime wonders.

Ichigo shrugs and runs his eyes over it again. He doesn't see any obvious defenses. He swings Orihime off his shoulder, then has to catch her as her feet fail to find purchase on the air. He'd forgotten where they were standing. Slowly, he descends to the ground with her.

He lets go of her hand and sees she's blushing. He turns slightly away, heat starting to rise in his own cheeks. And what's with that? He just picked her up! It's not like it has to mean anything!

"Um, thanks. For that," Orihime says, totally unable to meet his eyes. "Ichigo-kun."

"Oh," Ichigo says. "It was nothing." He turns back. "So that's the shinigami's city, huh?"

Yoruichi nods. "That is Seireitei."

"Great!" Ichigo says, hand flying to his sword. "It's wide open. Let's take 'em!"

He charges, ignoring a sputter of "Kurosaki!" from Uryuu.

"Well," Yoruichi drawls behind him, "Just because you can't see the defenses–"

He doesn't hear them coming, just an instinct telling him to look up—then he leaps back just before a set of white stone slabs slam down at the spot he was standing in, straight out of a clear blue sky. He skids backwards, crouched on the ground with a hand on his sword, heart pounding.

"Doesn't mean they aren't there," Yoruichi finishes. "Let that be a lesson on charging into unknown enemy bases."

"You know," Uryuu says, "I don't think we'll have to worry about traps if we just have Kurosaki run in front of us at all times."

"Well, you know what?" Ichigo snaps, whirling around. "If that's the best Soul Society's got—"

Then something huge thumps on the ground behind him, blasting dust into the air.

Ichigo turns around and raises a hand to his eyes, looking up at the towering figure behind him. He has to look up pretty far to meet the eyes of the man who seems to be an actual giant, standing taller than probably all of them combined, blocking the way between him and the gate.

"Intruders!" the man says, back hunched to peer at him. He looks inappropriately cheerful. "It's been a long time since anyone has tried to pass through this gate! You'll have to challenge me!"

"Huh," Ichigo says, shuffling his feet backward. "So. Defeat you and I can go?"

"Perhaps," says the giant, "but that won't happen, boy! I, Jidanbou, have guarded my White Road Gate for three hundred years! None have passed!"

"Alright," Ichigo says, hand going to his sword. "Sounds like a deal, big guy."

"Kurosaki!" Uryuu says from behind him.

"What?" Ichigo glances back, impatient. "I'll just beat him and we'll move on. No need to overthink it." He steps forward, thrusting his chin up at Jidanbou. "C'mon! I'll take you on."

 _"Kurosaki!"_ Uryuu says again, snapping out the syllables of his name. "He's an unknown enemy! We need to fight him together!"

Ichigo waves at him. "Nah!" He turns toward his friends, pulling his sword from his back. "I can take him alone. You all stand back!"

Uryuu sputters. Orihime clasps her hands together. "Be careful…"

"You're a cocky boy," says the giant from behind Ichigo. "Say those words again after you take my axe strike!"

He pulls a handaxe out from his shihakushou, the blade itself maybe as tall as Ichigo, and brings it down like he's aiming to behead a fish. Holding up a hand, Ichigo stops it against his palm. He grunts, feeling the impact through his arm. Stronger than a hollow, but far weaker than Urahara.

"You have no faith in me," he complains, turning back to his friends and knocking the axe blade aside. It fractures the stones at his feet.

Uryuu stares at him for a minute, frowning. "Fine. See if I give any help next time."

Orihime and Chad are more and less openly gaping at him. Yoruichi is lashing her tail in annoyance, which is about all he can read from her in kitty form.

"What?" Jidanbou hefts his axe and stumbles back, blinking owlishly at him. Suddenly, he breaks into raucous laughter that blows Ichigo's hair back. "You managed to stop my axe! No one has ever been able to before—not with their bare hand! Good! Very good! You'll be a worthy opponent!"

"Uh, alright," Ichigo says, taking a step back and flexing his hand.

"You may have blocked my first attack, but you won't be able to stop this!" Jidanbou booms. Reaching into his kosode, he pulls out a second handaxe. Orihime gasps from behind Ichigo.

"It looks like it's time for me to get serious," Jidanbou says, raising his axes above his head. "Draw your blade, intruder!"

He smashes both axes down and Ichigo brings his still-sheathed sword up and catches them on its edge. The force blasts dust away from the ground around them.

Jidanbou's eyes grow wide at the sight of Ichigo still standing. He raises his axes again. "So you stopped that too! But get ready for what's coming next! Juppon Jidanda Matsuri!"

He slams his axes down on Ichigo's sword again. Ichigo lets out an exaggerated huff. "You know, I don't have all day."

He charges Zangetsu with reiatsu, bandages unraveling around its blade, and swings it sideways into both axes. Both instantly shatter like ceramic. Chunks of metal go flying, making the giant stumble back. Jidanbou lifts both broken handles of his axes, blinking uncomprehendingly at them.

His face crumples in an instant. "My axes!" He slams his fists into the ground, causing a small tremor. "You broke my axes!"

Ichigo takes a few steps back and lowers his sword as the giant starts wailing. "Seriously?" He had so not signed up for this.

"What in the world," Uryuu mutters. "Is he crying?"

"Sounds like a siren," Orihime muses.

"Uh, hey." Ichigo approaches the sobbing giant. "I'm sorry? I mean, I guess I didn't have to destroy both."

Jidanbou sniffs loudly and looks up at him with tears gushing from his eyes. "You're a nice guy!" His huge hand claps down on Ichigo's shoulder, making him stumble and nearly faceplant. "Even though you're my enemy, you still care about me. You've got a big heart!"

"No…" Ichigo grumbles, trying to pull away. "You were just wailing."

"You have truly defeated me," Jidanbou says. "Both as a warrior and as a man." He sniffs again, wiping his face, and straightens up. "I, Jidanbou, have decided you are worthy of passing through the White Road Gate!"

Ichigo blinks. "Oh! Thanks!" He turns toward his friends. "Nailed it!"

Yoruichi lets out a small snort and points her nose at the air. "Ichigo, someday you'll understand the difference between a good plan and a terrible plan with a good outcome."

Ichigo looks away with a grumble. Orihime raises a hand. "Can we come in too?"

"Of course," the giant says, once again full of cheer. "Your leader beat me, so I can't stop you."

"Hey!" Uryuu steps forward and jabs a finger at Ichigo. "Since when was this hooligan our leader?"

Ichigo crosses his arms. "You wanna find your own way in?"

Jidanbou turns to the gate as they gather around. "Are you sure you kids want to go in there? There are lots of scary people inside. Some of them have no manners."

Ichigo nods. "We're sure."

Jidanbou slides his hands under the gate, which might weigh about as much as he does, and, with a grunt and a roar, hefts the whole thing over his head. He freezes. His face pales instantly.

Ichigo pokes his head into the doorway and glimpses a courtyard leading into the city proper. In the middle, strolling toward them without a care in the world, is a guy who couldn't be much older than Ichigo and could probably pass for a high-schooler easily, a guy with silver hair.

Silver hair and the same white haori as Kuchiki Byakuya.

He has slanted snake eyes that dart here and there and a chilling smile across his lips. He looks at Ichigo like he's imagining the color of his insides.

"N-no," Jidanbou says, shaking with his eyes fixed on the young man. "Third Squad captain Ichimaru Gin!"

Yoruichi lets out a hiss from behind Ichigo. "Dammit! I didn't plan for this. Retreat!"

Gin shakes his head. "My, my. This won't do at all."

Ichigo sees his hand twitch to his side, and in the split seconds that it takes for him to realize the captain's going for his sword, for him to make a grab for his own, blood's been spilt. Steel flashes across the length of the courtyard and blurs through the air as a gleaming arc of metal, then vanishes.

The captain's hand moves away from his sword, almost as if he hadn't done anything. Jidanbou's huge arm thumps to the ground. Blood gushes like from the top of a broken fountain, pattering on the paving stones. Jidanbou lets out a bellow of pain and surprise. The gate crashes down onto his back and he catches it with a grunt, sinking to his knees.

Ichigo's blood chills. This is not an opponent his friends can face.

The boy has a conversational smile on his face. "Oh my. You can still hold the gate with one arm. How impressive."

Ichigo lets out a snarl and charges blindly, Zangetsu flaring with dark power. Gin draws his sword in a flash of metal and raises a wakizashi to block, easily bearing the weight of Ichigo's reiatsu. Their harsh clash of blades rings through the courtyard.

Ichigo leaps back, body held low to pounce. Gin's expression hasn't changed a bit. "Wow. Charging in without warning like that—you're scary."

"And attacking a defenseless guy without warning like that—you're scum," Ichigo growls.

"Ichigo, no!" Yoruichi yowls from the gate, and she sounds genuinely panicked. "You're not ready for him! We must retreat!"

Ichigo looks back, eyes narrowed with frustration that probably isn't fair for him to aim at her. She's got a good, logical point. Her way will probably lead to less grief for all of them.

Ichigo brandishes his sword at the captain. "Are you kidding me? We just got here! I'm not gonna run away from this guy!"

If he can't defeat a captain, why is he even here?

"Oh." Gin's smile widens a degree. "Yer an interesting brat. Perhaps you're the one they're all talkin' about?"

He holds his wakizashi oddly to one side, both hands on its hilt and point aimed at Ichigo. "I didn't expect you to have a death wish."

Ichigo's eyes widen and he leaps back.

"Shoot to kill, Shinsou."

The blade lashes out like a serpent, whipping across the courtyard in a split second. Ichigo throws himself to one side. Its tip grazes his ribs and he lets out a hiss of pain, hitting the ground in an awkward roll.

Behind him, he sees his friends standing beyond the gate, staring at him wide-eyed—and Gin's sword is still heading for them, purposefully slow but just fast enough that Ichigo can't get there in time, and Jidanbou is standing defenseless in its path. Orihime brings her hands up in front of her and says something in a panic. She's not fast enough either.

Ichigo raises his fist, charging crimson energy around it, and hurls a weak bala into Jidanbou's gut. It blasts the giant back out of the gateway, more blood pouring from his arm as he collapses on the ground outside, Ichigo cursing internally at how badly the guy had gotten hurt for trying to be nice to them. He prays he didn't hit anything vital. Orihime did tell him she had healing abilities, so he'll have to leave the giant to her.

The gate begins to fall. Gin's sword shoots under it and stops against a glowing triangular shield, which is instantly spiderwebbed with cracks. Gin's eyes narrow. Immediately after he pulls his sword back, Orihime's shield shatters. Through fragments of orange light, Ichigo sees Orihime staring at him, looking pale, sees Uryuu holding Chad back from charging through the gate. His gaze lands on Yoruichi. He can't read her expression but she nods once.

Gin pulls his sword back just as the gate slams shut.

Ichigo turns toward him, gritting his teeth, his sword held up in front of him. Dammit, now he's left himself alone with a dangerous shinigami captain. But this is the best outcome, really—his friends would die fighting a captain. Heck, Uryuu had been left bleeding out on the streets in their last fight with a shinigami, in _Ichigo's_ battle. That damn Quincy. Now that's an affront to both their pride.

Better Ichigo than anyone else.

"Interestin', how you're trying to save your friends," Gin says, twirling his sword through his fingers without a care. He narrows his eyes. "But if you recognize the danger ta them, ya must recognize that you don't stand a chance."

Ichigo levels his sword at him. "Come at me and we'll see. I've faced another captain and he was way more impressive than you."

"Hm." Gin stops twirling his zanpakutou, holding it almost slackly in his hand with the tip pointed at Ichigo's heart. "False bravado doesn't suit you."

Ichigo raises his sword and launches himself into shunpo. Gin places the end of his sword against his chest, fingers of both hands laced over the hilt. "Butou," he murmurs.

Then the tip of gleaming metal is heading straight for Ichigo's eye.

He throws himself backward and Shinsou grazes a thin line of blood along the side of his head. He flips off the ground, then barely glimpses the blade swinging toward his side in time to block. It crashes against his sword in a jarring sound, Ichigo digging in his heels to stand his ground, then leaves him off balance when the blade suddenly vanishes.

A flash of steel sweeps low across the entire courtyard. Ichigo leaps into the air, then instantly realizes it's a bad idea. The captain had been trying to drive him up here, where Ichigo's maneuverability is seriously hampered and where a split second's misstep could kill him. Gin's shikai flashes toward him again and Ichigo raises his sword as a shield. He misjudges the incoming strike. The blade plunges into his stomach and tears through his side.

Ichigo lets out a choking sound, stumbling in midair, missing his footing for a moment and nearly falling—and that might be the only thing that saves his life, as Gin's blade lashes toward his head and grazes his shoulder instead, with another spray of blood.

Ichigo dives for the ground and the cover of buildings, one hand pressed to his side to try and keep his guts from spilling out and cursing up a storm as he calls upon his hollow regeneration in a panic—and dammit, he'd been planning to avoid using these powers, here in the Soul Society. He thought he'd be strong enough without them.

He whirls around, hearing Gin's sword whistle through the air again, and brings his sword up to catch it on its edge. Gin's blade swerves aside in midair, screeching against the side of Ichigo's sword, and hits his hand, slashing off several fingers.

Ichigo cries out and loses his grip on Zangetsu. He makes a wild grab for its hilt with his other hand. His fingers tangle in its bandage and he clutches it, yanking the sword with him into cover in the alleyway between two buildings. He presses his back against one wall, breathing harshly.

 _'Fuck!'_ Zangetsu snarls in his mind. ' _Use my power! Take him down!'_

Ichigo shakes his head. He stares at his hand, flexing it and watching his fingers regenerate, trying to calm his breathing.

The prospect of smashing all his problems with brute force is tempting. He knows Gin is outclassing him without even trying right now, and it makes him seethe inside. He'd like to see how smug the guy's face looks after he shoves a couple of ceros into it.

"No," Ichigo mutters under his breath. "Shut up. I can't do that." There's far too much at stake. Charging at all his problems the same way he always does is just selfish.

He looks up at the sound of steel grinding against stone and leaps aside just as a blade sticks out of the wall where he was. The sword slashes to one side and brings half the building crumbling down. Ichigo turns and runs, dodging rubble.

"Whoops," the creepy bastard says from the other side of the building. "They warned me about the property destruction."

 _'Don't be a pansy!'_ Zangetsu snarls. _'You can take him! Why won't you?'_

 _'He's not going after my friends,'_ Ichigo says. _'And I'm in the city. That's all I needed.'_ He frowns. _'Besides, you can feel it, can't you? He's not fighting this seriously.'_

Zangetsu hisses lowly. _'Pisses me off.'_

Looking around, Ichigo dashes through the cloud of dust kicked up by the collapsed building, trying to use it as cover while tamping down on his reiatsu. He takes a sharp turn onto another street, then around two more corners, pushing his shunpo to his limits. He runs into a dead end and vaults over a wall to the other side.

"Is he not chasing me?" he mutters, pressing his back against the wall as he catches his breath. By Gin's reiatsu, he hasn't moved much from the gate. "Not much of a captain."

Far away, alarm bells start to sound, echoing throughout the city. On the other side of the wall behind him, Ichigo hears a gang of shouts and footsteps approach. He pushes away from the wall silently and launches into shunpo again, trying to keep his reiatsu suppressed. He doesn't know if he's accomplishing anything. Urahara had given him a crash course in concealing his reiatsu while training him, but it's questionable whether that guy can teach him anything without nearly killing him.

 _'Don't bother,'_ Zangetsu says, sounding bored. ' _You're hopeless. Might as well start firing ceros into the air and see how long it takes the captains to find you.'_

 _'Oh, shut up,'_ Ichigo grumbles. He hesitates for a moment at an intersection and turns right. Just around the next bend, he catches sight of a group of approaching shinigami. Someone points at him and shouts. He leaps over the group and lands atop a nearby wall, drawing his sword, and switches to running over the rooftops. He doesn't really know where to go. He'll just head deeper into the city and try to figure something out.

 _'Well,'_ his hollow drawls. _'You're alone in the enemy's city, you've left your friends and the only person who knows what the fuck they're doing behind, and everyone knows you're here. What're you gonna do now?'_

 _'You don't have to describe the situation to me,'_ Ichigo says. His hand tightens around his sword. _'I'm gonna save Rukia.'_

* * *

 _Say goodbye to canon, we're doin' things different. But not too different because I'm helpless._

 _Please review! Reviews are the best!_


	23. misdemeanors in the land of the dead

Uryuu emerges from the hut where Yoruichi and the town elder are talking strategy, planning to check up on Orihime who's been healing Jidanbou without rest all this time. He pauses behind her when he sees her wiping her eyes with a sniffle, staring stubbornly at her healing shield.

Uryuu freezes in his steps, suddenly uncomfortable. Before he can decide whether he should just go back inside without catching her notice, Orihime shoulders stiffen slightly and she turns around. "Oh!" she gasps, and immediately plasters a smile across her face. "Ishida-kun!"

"Don't worry," Uryuu blurts out. "When we see Kurosaki again, I'll beat him up for you."

Orihime laughs weakly. "Oh, I'm sure that's not necessary, Ishida-kun." She looks back down at her shield, smile dropping from her face. "I just hope he's okay."

"Yoruichi-san says she has a way into Seireitei," Uryuu says hesitantly.

Orihime instantly brightens up, turning to him. "Really?" She clasps her hands together, blinking down hard at them. "I hope we find him soon. I mean, I know Ichigo-kun's a real strong guy… but he's alone in such a dangerous place. That captain— I couldn't see him move—" Her breath hitches and she twists her fingers around each other, staring at them. "I can't stop worrying."

"Ah, I'm sure he'll do alright," Uryuu says. "Kurosaki has a few tricks up his sleeve. He's too stubborn to die anyway."

Was that comforting? Uryuu has no idea how to be comforting to people. At least he hadn't said something like "well, the first captain he ever met ran circles around him and made the fastest guy Uryuu had ever met seem like a two-year-old with a sword, and Kurosaki just entered a fortress guarded by thirteen of those same captains". That would be distinctly unhelpful.

"Ah," Orihime says quietly. "You're right. I should have faith in him, I think." She still looks morose. She suddenly glances up at Uryuu, as if she's wrestling with herself over her next words.

"Sometimes it seems like he doesn't trust us," she says in a small voice. "Me and Sado-kun."

"I—" Uryuu's at a loss for words. "No, he just… worries about you. All the time. He wants to protect you guys, and he can get to have quite a complex about it."

Orihime ducks her head down, nodding and biting her lip. She looks up and meets Uryuu's eyes earnestly. "Do you really think he'll be okay?"

"I think he's one of those people who just doesn't die," Uryuu answers carefully, trying to stay honest. "And he can handle himself."

"Alright," Orihime whispers. She looks back down at her healing shield, strength entering the line of her jaw. Jidanbou's arm now has just a shallow cut across it, and the giant is snoring loudly enough to shake the roofs of houses around him. "And if he's hurt, I can heal him." She nods. "I won't fail. I'll help him."

* * *

From atop a high roof, Ichigo gets a good view of Seireitei spread out below and shinigami scurrying around in some chaotic sort of order, gathering in battalions near the gates or marching through the streets in patrols. If they're looking for him, no one has bothered to look up yet.

So far, this whole invasion thing has been surprisingly easy. Ichigo doesn't even have a plan. Well _that_ , that might be a problem. He doesn't know where to go from here or where Rukia even is or how he's gonna rescue her. Separating from Yoruichi was probably a bad idea, considering she's the only one who knows what they're doing or understands this place. He's got two weeks until the execution. He could wait for her.

But he wouldn't be able to stand being _right here_ and doing nothing. And if he can rescue Rukia himself, all's the better. If he can avoid getting his friends involved. He's gotta give it a shot, right?

Well, for now, he's not gonna be able to accomplish much with the shinigami milling around, gearing up for battle, and generally getting in his way. He ought to find an out-of-the-way place and wait for night, when hopefully things will quiet down. He can figure out his next move starting from there. Even if it's just causing as much mayhem as he can so Yoruichi can sneak into Seireitei and rescue Rukia.

He leaps down from the roof to the top of a neighboring row of buildings, then to the next one, in a direction heading away from the center of the city.

"Oi!" someone calls out from behind him. Ichigo jumps and whirls around to see another shinigami several meters away, clambering across the rooftops toward him. "What are you doing up—"

Ichigo shunpos to the end of the row of buildings and jumps down to the ground, and is about to launch into another flash step when he hears a voice shriek. Looking around, he sees a small group of shinigami backing away from the crazy guy who'd just dropped into the middle of them. A boy stumbles face-first into him with a squeak of alarm.

He looks weak, Ichigo registers in a moment. Maybe he'd be a middle schooler in the human world.

Ichigo's arm lashes out reflexively and hooks around the boy's neck. He waves his sword at the shinigami surrounding him. "Don't move, or he dies!"

All the shinigami take one look at him and bolt. On second glance, they all seem pretty wimpy. Most don't even have swords. Maybe they aren't combatants.

Ichigo looks down at the kid he has in a headlock. "Do they not like you very much?"

The kid is pale and shaking. "A—ah! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! What did I do?"

Ichigo blinks and releases him, stepping back. "Uh… look, my bad. I'm not gonna kill you. Hey, relax."

The kid doesn't look much better, stumbling back while stammering "I'm sorry!"

Ichigo flaps a hand at him. "Don't. Look, just go and get back with your friends. Didn't mean to… take you hostage back there." He turns away, running a hand through his hair.

An idea strikes him and his eyes widen. "Wait!"

The boy freezes in place. He turns around slowly. "Yes?"

Ichigo scowls. "No, no, calm down." His words don't have much effect. "Look, just… do you have any idea where Rukia is? Kuchiki Rukia? The prisoner that's—"

The boy's eyes widen. "Y—yes," he says quietly. "Yes, I do."

"Seriously?" Ichigo can't help grinning. He can hardly believe his luck. "Can you take me there?"

The boy blinks slowly at him. "Um, by any chance… are you one of the ryoka?"

"What's a ryoka?"

"Um, an invader," the boy says. "An evil spirit that enters Soul Society…" He flushes. "W—wait, you _are_ a—"

"Yup." Ichigo crosses his arms. "Invading, rule-breaking, threatening the innocent, I've been doing a lot of that lately." He scowls. "But so what? Will you help me or not?"

"Are you going to help Kuchiki-san?" the boy says.

"Yeah," Ichigo says. "I'm here to save her. Nobody's gonna execute her."

The boy bows. "Okay. I'll take you to her."

* * *

So the boy's name turns out to be Hanatarou. He can't fight, he panics easily, he seems to be perpetually missing about three hours of sleep, and he won't look Ichigo in the eyes when he speaks, but he sure knows his way around Seireitei's sewers. In other news, Ichigo can't believe he's actually doing this.

At least these sewers are fairly nice, not that Ichigo has a large sample size to compare them with. But it's spacious and the walls are hewn of white stone, and in general they're a lot better than the sewers he sees in movies, though not all better cause the cinematic experience doesn't come with the smell.

"So," Ichigo says, breaking a drawn-out silence between them. "This'll lead to right inside the sixth division?"

Hanatarou makes an affirmative sound from ahead of him. "I think it's in one of the courtyards, but I've never been this way. The nobles in sixth division are, um, scary. But it should be the closest exit to the sixth division cells. I know where those are."

Ichigo glances around the wide-open tunnel of the sewer. "And there are just… no guards up there?"

Hanatarou laughs nervously. "Kuchiki-taichou and over two hundred shinigami are there. It's very well guarded already."

"Byakuya ain't that impressive," Ichigo says. He glances at his watch to wait for Hanatarou to stop gaping at him and continue leading the way. It's more than half-past one A.M., getting onto two. He and Hanatarou had waited until after midnight to set out, which was pretty boring and led to Ichigo committing a lot of petty crime to entertain himself. But hopefully, by now, all the guards in the sixth division should be asleep, distracted, or bored. Best moment to strike, he's guessing.

"Just how strong are you, Ichigo-san?" Hanatarou wonders quietly.

Ichigo blows out a breath. "Not strong enough to keep Rukia from getting taken in the first place—"

 _'King,'_ Zangetsu says.

 _'What?'_

 _'Do you have any idea how many times you've whined about that? Shut up about it already.'_

Ichigo can't come up with a retort. He grits his teeth. "But I'm gonna get her back this time," he says purposefully loudly, and now Hanatarou is looking at him in alarm because he can't quite keep the irritation out of his voice.

 _'Good,'_ Zangetsu says. _'Now say you're a work in progress.'_

 _'Shut up!'_ Ichigo snarls.

"Rukia has a good friend, huh?" Hanatarou says softly. Ichigo blinks.

"I dunno about that." He waves his hands. "I got her into this mess in the first place, so I'd better get her out. It's just what I ought to do." He frowns. "Isn't it what anyone would do?"

"Um…" Hanatarou says. "Well…"

Ichigo scowls. "Okay, fine, I get it. It's not. I'm just abnormal."

"She said you got hurt for her," Hanatarou says. "When she was telling me about the human world, and about you. She said you fought a captain for her."

Ichigo blinks. "She told you about that?" Wait a minute. "She talks about me?"

"She's said a lot about you," Hanatarou says. "So I thought, from what she said, that you were a pretty amazing person. So that's why I decided I should trust you."

Ichigo does a double-take. Hanatarou continues talking. "But she said she hoped you wouldn't come to save her. She said that she felt, because of her, your fate had been terribly twisted. She said you suffered because of her…"

He trails off. Ichigo turns away and stares at the wall, not quite focusing. Rukia thinks _what?_ "No way," he mutters. His hands clench into fists. "Not a way in hell."

He marches forward quicker, a stormy expression across his face. "Ah— Ichigo-san?" Hanatarou cries, rushing to keep up.

"She doesn't make this easy," Ichigo grumbles under his breath. "But I'm gonna rescue her."

* * *

Rukia's up counting stars because she can't sleep.

She's perched on her hard uncomfortable chair in the middle of the cell, watching the moon outside her window trace a slow arc across the sky, until it leaves her field of sight and she's left staring at the stars blurring in her eyes as she dozes. When she snaps awake every so often, the constellations have shifted.

A thump somewhere else in the building knocks her out of a hazy half-dream. She sits up, glancing around blearily. A long stretch of silence falls after that, long enough for her to relax, then there's a short scuffle and something thuds against a wall.

Though she strains her ears, nothing else comes to them. She's about to nod off when she hears the clanking mechanism of the door to the cell block opening.

She leans an arm on her chair back and turns around, blinking into the dark. Groaning at her stiff joints, she stands, rubbing her eyes. "Renji? It's still night."

"Well, yeah," a familiar voice who's not Renji says. "It's two AM. Renji visits you at these sorts of times?"

She straightens up and spins around. "What? No! You—"

He comes into sight, the pale light from the window landing on his hair and washing out its color, and her throat seizes and doesn't let her speak for a moment. "So it _is_ you," she says quietly.

Ichigo's standing on the other side of her cell bars with a crooked smirk on his face, like he for all the world belongs there, and _gods_ , his hair is as ridiculous as ever and his smile is as dumb as ever, and is that a new sword on his back? And he's standing here like Byakuya couldn't do a thing to him, total destruction of spiritual powers or no.

"You and Renji making the most of your time together?" Ichigo says. "Well, now I feel awkward."

Rukia lunges forward and grabs the bars, fantasizing about grabbing Ichigo's shoulders and shaking that smug grin off his face. "Why, you—"

Ichigo leans in frantically and grabs the bars near her hands. "Shh!"

Rukia grits her teeth and brings her voice down to a hiss. "You idiot! I told you not to come! What are you doing here? And what are you doing _here_? How did you get into the sixth division cells?"

"Oh." Ichigo shrugs with one of his shoulders toward the door. "Hanatarou got me here, actually. He said he knew you. He's outside keeping a lookout right now."

Rukia frowns to herself. "Hanatarou? The kid from the fourth division? He's in on this… ridiculous heist? How did you rope him into it?"

"He wants to save you," Ichigo says. "It's all you, Rukia. No one wants to see you executed. Now come on already." He fumbles with a key at the door of the cell. "I'm gonna get you out of here, then we're gonna get far away from your brother, then all of us'll figure out a way to get out of the Soul Society."

"You absolutely incorrigible idiot," Rukia says. "I told you to leave me. I told you to never come."

Ichigo yanks open the cell door, which clatters with a sound that echoes in the silence and becomes much louder than it should be. "You're the idiot," he grumbles, "if you think I'd just leave you to die." He thrusts a hand in her face. "Show a little gratitude."

She walks primly out of the cell herself. "You ignored what I told you to do, so I won't. But it turned out surprisingly well, so I'm inclined to forgive you."

"Oh." Ichigo turns away and makes a face. "Thanks." He turns to the door and calls out quietly, "Oi, Hanatarou. Coast clear out there?"

A few seconds pass, then Hanatarou comes stumbling in, pale and eyes wide as a startled rabbit. "It—it's _him_ ," the boy stammers. "It's him! He's coming!"

Rukia casts her senses out and gasps, fear trickling down her spine like ice water. "Nii-sama!" His reiatsu is a cold blade of tightly controlled anger and honed purpose, bearing down on them. She turns to Ichigo. "It's Byakuya! He knows you're here!"

Ichigo curses, turning to a window and, finding that it doesn't open, trying to force it out of its frame.

The door to the cells creaks open again. "He's here!" Hanatarou gasps, crowding close to Ichigo. Ichigo curses and herds the two of them back, then pulls back a fist and throws it forward, aimed at the window. In a flash of crimson light, the glass shatters with a noise that's deafening in the silence. He scoops Rukia up in his arms and rams his way out through the remaining shards of glass, sending more of them tinkling to the floor, then hauls Hanatarou after him.

Rukia, peering over Ichigo's shoulder, glimpses several pinpoints of metal glimmering in the dark, becoming a faintly glowing wave that bears down on them from behind. "Duck!" she screams.

Ichigo whirls around and his eyes widen. He pushes Hanatarou aside, raising his sword as the attack surges through the window and smashes a hole through the wall around it. Energy blazes along his sword, and the shockwave it sends through the air as he releases it scatters the mass of petals. Blades score thin lines of blood across Rukia's cheek, across Ichigo's face and arms.

The petals begin to regroup. "Run!" Rukia cries. Ichigo whirls around and flashes away, cradling her to his chest with one arm, his footsteps jarring her head.

"What the hell was that?" he shouts in Rukia's ears.

"Byakuya's shikai," Rukia answers carefully, trying not to bite her tongue with all the jostling. "From his sword— a thousand blades float in the air like cherry blossoms— and cut the opponent to pieces."

"I didn't need the sales pitch," Ichigo mutters.

He glances behind him. Byakuya is a dark silhouette standing beyond a hole in the prison's wall, his blades swirling around him. "I didn't assume you would be foolish enough to break right into this place and activate the kidou alarm I placed on her cell. But I suppose it's to be expected."

He steps forward. Ichigo turns and skids to a stop, facing him with his sword raised.

"You are foolish beyond measure, human," Byakuya says. "However you managed to regain your powers, you should've stayed in the human world. Even a beast would have the instinct to live."

He raises one hand and his petals stir into a cyclone. "You won't survive this night."

* * *

 _My update is finally here, guys. I'm sorry it took so long. But, t_ _hings are going to get interesting. Wait, did I already say that? Well, I've now decided they should get more interesting, before I go back to your (ir)regularly scheduled "Bleach canon with more snark"._

 _Ok, shadow needs to say something funny. Uh, while Ichigo was running around Seireitei, he actually completely forgot about the fact that he looks like a regular shinigami with a wild dye job and therefore should be relatively safe_ — _until his description starts floating around. I was going to make a side joke off that, but I took it out._

 _P_ _lease review! Reviews are the best_


	24. jailbreak in sakura season

Ichigo stares down the approaching mass of cherry-petal-looking… tiny metal slivers? He hasn't gotten a good look at them yet. His arms are still spotted with blood from not completely avoiding Byakuya's last barrage. He's not looking forward to testing his regeneration against having his skin shredded.

That's damn unfair, Byakuya's shikai is. Ichigo didn't know there could be shikai like that. Byakuya gets to just stand far away and send it to maul him without taking a step. Does Ichigo get something fancy like that? Nope, his sword just provides a running commentary on his life and tries to kill him at random occasions.

 _'Excuse me?'_ snaps the sword in question. _'I ain't good enough for you now, huh? You wanna fight this one by yourself?'_

Ichigo rolls his eyes. _'Aw, shut up. You're a great sword too and all that. Now back me up here.'_

 _'I could have a better owner,'_ the hollow teases, as Ichigo raises his sword against Byakuya's attack bearing down on him. Power gathers in black coils around the blade.

Ichigo brings the sword crashing down. "Getsuga Tenshou!"

His surroundings are cast in red light for a moment as a pillar of black energy swallows Byakuya's mass of petals, tossing them away like flotsam in a wave. As the blast starts to dissipate, he sees that Byakuya's moved to one side, hair blown wildly across his face by the shockwave, staring at Ichigo with shock disguised under anger.

Ichigo whirls around, clutching Rukia to his chest, and runs. Her hands make fists in his shihakushou as she nearly twists out of his grip in an attempt to peer behind him. She gasps and her head snaps around to the front. Ichigo skids to a stop, holding his sword out between him and Byakuya, who'd appeared before him from a nearly untraceable flash step. The captain raises one hand, holding the hilt of a katana.

Ichigo growls, wild black energy wreathing his sword again, and charges at Byakuya. The man narrows his eyes in distaste. Holding up the hilt in his hand, he makes a slashing motion away from Ichigo.

Then Byakuya's wave of petals crashes into Ichigo from behind. He gasps and stumbles forward, nearly falling. Uncountable tiny slivers of metal slice into his back, each one a cold bolt of pain to his nerves. He flares his reiatsu as a shield, hunkering down to shelter Rukia. Damn it, with her at close proximity, she's in danger if Ichigo gets hit, yet Byakuya keeps throwing around these wide-area attacks like he just _doesn't care._

With a desperate snarl that doesn't sound all human, he whirls away from Byakuya and launches his Getsuga blindly, watching a wave of black wipe out the flecks of pink in the air. He dives through the momentarily-cleared path, gasping and coughing.

Out of the dust and smoke clogging the air swings a blade, clashing and screeching against metal as Ichigo raises his own sword as a shield. Ichigo leaps up into the air, kicking out at the other blade, then brings the full weight of his zanpakutou down, knocking his opponent back when they try to block. They skid along the ground, just a dark shape in the dim moonlight.

"Dammit!" snarls a familiar voice. "Roar, Zabimaru!"

Ichigo leaps a step back. He risks a glance behind him to see that Byakuya hasn't moved a step, his cherry petals regrouping and swirling before him like a scene from a 16th century painting. Hearing the sound of clattering metal behind him, he turns slightly and sidesteps just enough so that the head of Renji's zanpakutou passes him. Renji whips the blades to one side, turning the teeth toward Ichigo, who raises his sword to block. Each tooth of the blade screeches against Zangetsu's edge, throwing off sparks.

Renji glares at Ichigo from behind him, breathing hard and hair looking disheveled from probably running all the way here. He must've just gotten out of bed, because he's wearing his sleeping robes and his hair is down. It would be funny on a night where Ichigo's not about to find out what 'death by a thousand cuts' actually feels like. Of course, Byakuya is perfectly dressed, because that man isn't human enough to need sleep.

Ichigo tries to back away from both captain and lieutenant, but Byakuya's petals circle behind him, cutting him off in a screen of pink. As they rush forward, Ichigo hisses a curse and leaps up into the air, making Rukia cling harder to his shoulders with a small squeaking noise. He lands precariously atop a streetlamp-post, catching his breath and surveying the situation below. Renji reels his zanpakutou in, which collapses back into the blade, and whirls toward him. A straggling herd of shinigami are gathering, running up to join the commotion.

Ichigo curses. This situation is getting harder to escape from the longer it goes on—and he had _wanted_ to get away in the dark of night without any trouble starting up, for once. Is once too much to ask from his life?

He glances down at Rukia in his arms. "Are you okay?" He brushes a finger though the rivulets of blood running down her jaw from cuts along her cheek. "You're bleeding."

Rukia frowns. "Worry about yourself, Ichigo."

Ichigo's hand tightens on his sword's hilt. He looks down at Byakuya, who's regathered his blade petals. Byakuya matches the heat in his glare with his own iciness.

"Unhand Rukia and surrender," the captain says. "I will not tolerate this farce for any longer."

Ichigo narrows his eyes at Byakuya, baring his teeth. "And why should I hand her over to you? You expect me to let her get executed? I guess you don't know a thing about me!"

He raises his sword and points it at Byakuya, the blade blazing with crimson-black flame. "And you! How could you hurt her like this? How do you call yourself a brother?"

Across their distance, he can just see Byakuya's mouth tighten and his brows move down in displeasure. "One such as you would not understand, Kurosaki Ichigo. And I don't need to give explanations to a dead man."

"Oh, really?" Ichigo snarls. "You're right. I couldn't understand what'd drive someone to capture and hurt and execute their own sister! If she's about to be executed, you should be the first to try and save her, shouldn't you? An older brother should protect!"

Byakuya narrows his eyes. "And that's why you can't understand. Unhand Rukia and she won't be hurt. And then die quietly. This is the last time I'll ask."

Ichigo raises the point of his sword and brings it down. "Getsuga… _Tenshou!"_

Byakuya forms his blades into a shield before the blast, and it holds fast for a moment, before being scattered under the wave of black. Byakuya's expression twists in distaste, then the wave crashes down and hides his form from sight, driving a crater through the stone-paved road and blasting dust and rock shards into the air. Ichigo lowers his sword a degree and watches the smoke thin, his senses on high alert.

He whirls around to see Byakuya land on the other side of the road, breathing hard, hair disheveled, blood dripping down one side of his face. His glare burns into Ichigo. He raises his hand, slashing the hilt upward through the air, and Senbonzakura surges toward the base of the lamppost Ichigo's commandeered, digging into the wood and then shearing through like it's paper. Ichigo leaps off as the post starts to topple. He lands awkwardly and, as Senbonzakura circles around to cut him off, prepares to shunpo away.

"Bakudou #61: Rikujou Kourou."

Six glowing bars snap into place around his midsection and suddenly he can't move his body, pinned in place like a bug on a wall. Senbonzakura closes in around him.

Ichigo snarls, struggling against the bind. "Shit!" A torrent of black reiatsu crashes down around him, suffusing the air, tearing at the kidou and sending cracks spiraling through it.

It shatters into sparks of light. Gasping for breath, Ichigo brings his sword up against Senbonzakura, preparing to shield Rukia if Byakuya does attack—it's already too late to get out of the circle of blade petals.

Byakuya appears out of a cover of petals and dives toward Ichigo's right side. Ichigo whirls around, eyes widening, and slashes out with his blade, which Byakuya dodges.

Byakuya raises his free hand, finger pointed at Ichigo's eye. Ichigo blinks. He's not quick enough to react.

"Hadou #4: Byakurai."

A harsh flash of white light fills the entire night and blinds Ichigo. His right eye is a blaze of agony. He can't feel most of that side of his face. It feels like the pain is splitting his head open.

He blinks, hard, and finds himself on his knees. He dimly registers someone screaming at him over the ringing of his ears, fists clenched in his shihakushou trying to drag him up. Clamping his hand around his zanpakutou's hilt, he struggles to his feet with it as a prop, his body feeling like dead weight. He turns and tries to run. His left leg doesn't respond to him, doesn't take his weight. He crashes to the ground.

 _No._ He calls on his hollow powers, panic clawing at his throat. _Heal me. HEAL ME!_

Zangetsu is howling inside his mind. He can't focus enough to figure out what he's saying. It's all too loud, and his head is still ringing, he can't stand it, _shut up_.

The shinigami are closing in around him. They're just shapeless forms of black cloth and the gleaming slivers of blade edges in the dark. He doesn't have the strength to lift his sword. His vision doesn't seem to focus. He's totally blind in one eye, still blinking an afterimage of searing light out of the other.

He screams—more like howls—propping himself up on his sword, leaning against its blade, and he doesn't notice the mask forming over his face, the onyx claws that tip the fingers he raises. All he knows is he's in danger and he wants the enemy _gone._

A crimson cero rips apart the night.

The recoil throws Ichigo to the ground again, his teeth slicing through his bottom lip. He scrambles up with limbs that obey him this time, if sluggishly, and stumbles forward into the darkness, away from the screams and the blades, arms and legs shaking uncontrollably.

He almost never sees it coming, just gleams of metal in the darkness to warn him before he walks into a swarm of razor petals. He barely manages to raise his sword and deflect some of the attack with the side of its blade. Cold edges slice through his skin, leaving his arms and chest slick with blood.

The blades wheel away only to come again from behind. Ichigo can't see where Byakuya's standing in the dark. He wants to scream in frustration. He raises his sword behind him, charges a small Getsuga and detonates it against the petals, then turns back away and tries to shunpo. His feet fail to obey him. Another gust of Senbonzakura slams into his back and he goes down.

"No," he gasps, dragging himself along the ground, reaching out with fingertips shrouded with reiatsu, ready to rip through dimensions on blind instinct— _get him out of here, get him anywhere but here—_

"Bakudou #63: Sajou Sabaku."

Glowing yellow chains wrap around him and pin his arms to his sides. He howls. It doesn't sound human. His reiatsu surges around him, tearing at the kidou.

The cold edge of a blade presses against his throat. "Kurosaki Ichigo," Byakuya says. "You've lost."

Ichigo stares up at him, only seeing the dull blur of white that is his haori in the moonlight. Black is creeping in along the corners of his vision. His head falls to the cold street tiles and he barely notices.

Dammit. He's going to die here, this close. Because he was too weak.

"Hold on!" some voice says far away.

Byakuya's blade, digging into his neck, stops. "What is it, Aizen-taichou?" he says coldly.

There's the sound of shunpo, then a rustle of cloth as someone kneels down next to Ichigo. "I believe," that other voice says, "that we should not kill this boy just yet."

Ichigo's eyes slide shut. He thinks whatever is gonna happen to him, at least he'll be numb to this agony for a few moments.

Darkness pulls him under.

* * *

Byakuya regards Aizen coldly. "What do you intend?"

Aizen sighs, running a hand through his hair and looking down at the unconscious ryoka in front of him. "I have my suspicions," he says. "I believe we should take him in for questioning."

He gets up from the ground, dusting off his haori and shihakushou. "You saw the boy's powers, didn't you? If they are what I fear they are, then Central would be very interested to hear where he got them."

"Since when do you speak for Central?" Byakuya says.

"Well…" Aizen sighs, rubbing at the back of his neck. He looks up again, his eyes suddenly serious. "I must say, I'm personally quite interested in this matter as well. My former superior, Hirako Shinji-san, was involved in the Hollowfication Incident. I've been searching for answers harder then anyone else."

"I have no use for the ryoka," Byakuya says. "Do as you wish." He turns and walks away, delegating to officers nearby to fetch medics for the injured and return Rukia to her cell.

Aizen turns a friendly smile to Renji, who's managed to stand by the side watching without being noticed up to now. He lowers his voice. "He's still quite temperamental, isn't he?"

"Er," Renji says, wondering if Aizen's really talking about Byakuya and not daring to respond if he is. 'Still'?

"Um, Aizen-taichou," he says, dropping his voice in volume too. "I was wondering if I could ask…"

"Why, of course, Abarai-kun," Aizen says cheerily. "What is it?"

Renji's eyes move toward Ichigo. That mask he'd summoned that had shattered when he'd fallen unconscious, that energy blast with the reiatsu of a hollow—could they really be…?

"What _is_ that kid?" he asks Aizen. "It seems like you know."

Aizen moves closer, frowning down at the unconscious boy. "A hybrid, it seems. With the powers of a hollow."

He looks up. "Abarai-kun. Do you know of the hollowfication incident one hundred years ago?"

Renji blinks. "Hollowfication? Er, I can't really say, taichou."

Aizen gives a short sigh. "Nevermind. I don't believe the lower ranks were ever told the truth." He shrugs. "Well, don't tell anyone you heard this from me. A century ago, several captains and lieutenants escaped from Soul Society justice after obtaining the powers of hollows."

Renji opens his mouth, but finds himself speechless.

"This ryoka child seems to fit the same description as them—a shinigami-hollow hybrid. I believe he may have been trained by these renegades, who Soul Society has not found a single sign of in decades. He may have knowledge of their whereabouts."

"Well…" Aizen fishes a pair of cuffs out of his pockets and kneels down to shackle Ichigo's hands behind his back. The boy groans and winces when Aizen turns him onto his back, but doesn't wake. Aizen brings a hand glowing with kidou to the bloodied and burned socket of his eye, studying him with a steely focus as he works.

"It's anyone's guess whether he'll be in a state to answer questions," Aizen sighs. "Kuchiki-taichou might've been a bit too rough." He sighs. "All this mess over a single ryoka, eh?"

He looks up and smiles warmly at Renji. "Why don't you go and get some sleep? I'll deal with matters here. You must be worn out after a night like this."

The last Renji sees him, he's staring down at the ryoka with hard unreadable eyes, hardly paying attention to the messages he's composing to Fourth and Second Divisions with a hell butterfly.

* * *

 _You mess with Byakuya's hair, you get the divine punishment_

 _I'm sorry this chapter's late. And short. Well, at least, the next one will be longer. And will absolutely not include any sinister plans from Aizen, what a terrible thing to accuse the man of, I'm sure Aizen-taichou has never made a sinister plan in his life._

 _Please review! Reviews are awesome!_


	25. fear not the unknown

_I'm so sorry I disappeared and took forever to get this chapter out and ended the last chapter on a cliffhanger besides D:_

 _It's really my fault but I blame Aizen because he didn't help at all._

 _The problem is that I might not be able to update for the next month either. I'll be working on another fic and if everything goes according to plan hopefully it'll be out for UraIchi Week. Look forward!_

 _I hope there aren't any typoes._

* * *

Ichigo's eyes snap open. "Zangetsu! Zangetsu, help—"

He doubles over in a coughing fit that racks his whole body, and the sudden movement sends a sickening pulse of pain through his head, like hot metal being jabbed into his skull through his eye socket. He slumps against the stone floor, trying to breathe.

' _Ichigo!'_ his zanpakutou says, for a moment sounding genuinely worried. He hides it quickly. ' _Stop freaking out. Yeah, what do you want?'_

Ichigo lets his cheek rest against the cool stone, closing his eyes. "Zan," he mutters, reaching for the spirit's presence, which is weaker in his mind than he's used to.

Zangetsu sighs. ' _You're a real mess, Ichigo.'_

Ichigo's eyes snap open. "Where am I?" Gingerly, he pushes himself off the ground, blinking at his surroundings in the dim light.

' _Aw, take your wildest guess,'_ his zanpakutou says.

He sees featureless walls around him of rough black stone, barren except for a heavy metal door with bars built into it, the only source of light. The room isn't even big enough to pace in comfortably, barren and suffused with a deep chill that sinks into his bones.

He scrubs at his eyes, then lifts a hand to see heavy manacles around his wrists, chaining them to the wall. He blinks. "Fuck."

' _No shit,'_ Zangetsu says.

Ichigo hisses in frustration and smashes one of his shackles against the wall. It leaves a scuff mark on the stone and not a scratch on the metal. He glances around for his sword to break the chains, and panic seizes his throat when he realizes it's not with him. He's weaponless. He's defenseless and trapped.

' _They separated me from you,'_ Zangetsu says, a snarl underlying his voice. _'I can't help you.'_

Ichigo stares at his hands. He can't stop his fingers from faintly trembling. He's noticed that since he woke up.

"How am I supposed to get out of here?" he mutters. He draws his knees to his chest and rests his forehead against them. "Zan. I can't remember what happened last night…"

' _You can't_ remember?' the spirit says. He turns the sarcasm up to max. ' _Yeah, that'd be the brain damage, wouldn't it?'_

Ichigo blinks. He raises a hand to his right eye, which had been covered in bandages at some point. His face around it still feels numb, which is better than the pounding agony of the eye socket itself.

He presses the heel of a palm against his forehead. "Byakuya…"

' _Yeah,'_ Zangetsu says. ' _He did a number on you.'_

"It hurt," Ichigo mumbles. "I remember the pain. There was a flash of light… I couldn't _see…"_

' _Calm down,'_ Zangetsu says tensely.

Ichigo's eyes slip shut, his breathing uneven. They snap open half a second later, and his hand goes to his bandaged eye. "Why aren't I healed?"

' _The shackles on your wrists,'_ Zangetsu says, a growl entering his voice. ' _They seal reiatsu. Haven't noticed?'_

Ichigo raises his hand and curls his fingers, trying to charge a Getsuga within his palm. Nothing happens. He lets his hand drop and rests his head back against the wall, heedless of the uneven surface digging into his skull. What is he supposed to do?

' _If we can get out of these restraints for a few seconds,'_ Zangetsu says, ' _if they let us out for a few seconds, we can use reiatsu to heal. We can fight.'_

"They won't," Ichigo mumbles.

' _Well, haven't you gotten really annoying since you had your brains fried!'_ Zangetsu snaps. ' _Sit there and wait for your friends to rescue you then, if you can't do anything else!'_

Ichigo cringes. "I don't want them to be here."

Zan rolls his eyes. _'What's it_ now?'

Ichigo jerks his head up. "I don't want them to be in danger because of me! I could get them killed! Don't you get that?"

' _You know, I wasn't gonna comment on it,'_ his hollow says, ' _but you have some sort of complex about that whole issue.'_

"Your comments are unnecessary," Ichigo snarls.

Zangetsu makes a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. _'Haven't I told you before? If you wanna protect your friends, then make sure you don't lose!'_

Ichigo clenches his teeth. His hand digs trembling fingers into his forearm, to the point of pain. "Am I not strong enough?" he mutters. "I just want—"

A metallic clang comes from the cell door, mechanisms turning inside. Ichigo jerks bolt upright like he's been electrocuted. He reaches for a sword and finds none, tries to gather his reiatsu but finds he can't. As the door swings open, he cringes away from the bright light outside.

A man in a captain's haori with brown hair and glasses pokes his head through the doorway and blinks at Ichigo. "Oh? Are you awake?"

Ichigo tenses, the reality of the situation becoming all too clear in his mind. A captain. He's captured—he's powerless—a _captain_ is—

He'll finally find out what the Gotei 13 wants from him, he guesses.

The man beams at him. "Ah, how fortuitous! Good morning, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Zan hisses, bristling in his mind. Ichigo resists the urge to rub his forehead. Nothing going on here is helping his headache.

"How do you know my name?" Ichigo croaks when he finally processes the captain's words.

The man keeps smiling. "Ah, I suppose you don't remember me from the past night. I am Captain Aizen Sousuke. I'm pleased to meet you."

The past night? _Aizen…_ does that name sound familiar? Like he heard someone say it? Ichigo presses his fingers against his temple, trying to think through his headache.

He glances up. "You saved my life," he says hesitantly.

"Think nothing of it," Aizen says. "I don't agree with killing children."

Ichigo scowls at him.

"Well, how are you feeling?" Aizen says. "You seem to be doing surprisingly well, all things considered."

Ichigo scowls harder, and he'd tune out the captain's words if not for the next thing he says.

"It's your regenerative powers, is it not? It truly is quite remarkable. The power of a hollow?"

Ichigo stares at him, tense with his heart hammering. How does he know? What does he know? Last night… Ichigo had used hollow powers last night. He hadn't tried to hide them. There were witnesses.

Damn it, _damn it._

So the shinigami know what he is now. And what's with this guy? Is that _interest_ that his placid expression and pointed questions disguise?

"I have nothing to tell you," Ichigo rasps, then cringes inwardly. His choice of words didn't exactly make him less suspicious.

Aizen kneels down in front of him. "Is that so?" he says, and his smile now seems like an ingratiating one you'd give to a pitifully ignorant child. "Nothing about Urahara Kisuke?"

Ichigo recoils. He realizes belatedly that Aizen can read him like a book.

"Nothing about Hirako Shinji?"

Ichigo's blood chills. He knows the Visored are exiles, fugitives. Could Soul Society still be looking for them? Ichigo has to pretend to not know them—but can he pull that off in front of this man's worryingly sharp eyes?

Zangetsu lets out a long low hiss in his mind. ' _Get away from him. That man's dangerous. Get rid of him.'_

' _Really?'_ Ichigo thinks, studying Aizen and thinking how he doesn't have the energy to play mind games this early in the morning. And why is it that almost everything about this man rubs him the wrong way, even though he hadn't really done anything?

' _Listen to your instincts, dumbass,'_ Zangetsu says.

Ichigo frowns. But he's too tired to think hard. He jerks his chin up at Aizen. "What's it you want?"

Aizen widens his eyes in an affected manner. "Why, not much. Just to talk. I think there's a great deal we could learn from each other, after all."

"Don't give me that," Ichigo snaps. "Like I'll say anything to you while you've got me locked up in prison."

"Is that so?" Aizen says mildly. "I can remedy that."

Ichigo chokes on his next words and stares incredulously at him. He narrows his eyes. "If you want something from me, just spit it out."

Aizen sighs. "You're a tragically suspicious child, but I suppose it's to be expected, considering our current positions. Very well. I think you'd appreciate if I got to the point."

"So," The smile slips from his face, leaving only a cold, intense attention. "How much did Urahara Kisuke tell you?"

"Tell me?" Ichigo says, then hides his confusion behind a glare. "What? What do _you_ want to know about him?"

"Why, don't you have things you want to know as well?" Aizen says, with a patronizing smile. "Did he ever tell you of the circumstances behind his exile? His relation to the Visored?"

Ichigo stares at Aizen. He breaks eye contact, afraid of the man reading him.

"You don't know who I am," Aizen says, sounding almost disappointed. "So he really has told you nothing. And Hirako Shinji has told you nothing."

Ichigo growls under his breath. "What does that mean?"

"Simple," Aizen says. "They're all using you. I think you knew that, though you may be surprised at just how and what for." He regards Ichigo, glasses gleaming in the dim light and hiding his thoughts. "Have you even been told the real reason you're here? The hougyoku? Urahara Kisuke's greatest mistake?"

"Why do _you_ think you were sent here?" he presses when Ichigo doesn't give an answer.

"Nobody sent me here," Ichigo growls. "I came because I wanted to."

"To save the young Kuchiki girl, is that so? An admirable sentiment." Aizen shakes his head. "Yet, it's tragic. Well, I do have another request."

Ichigo glares at the man. Aizen tilts his head toward him, almost conspiratorially. "Won't you show me those other powers of yours, those of a hollow?"

Ichigo recoils and finds himself backed against the wall. Zangetsu snarls in his mind, urging him to violence. Ichigo grits his teeth through a wave of visceral fury that doesn't belong to him, hands curled into fists at his sides.

"Why?" he gasps. "What do you want from me?"

"Why, nothing," Aizen says. "But won't you do me the favor of satisfying an idle curiosity?" He gestures at Ichigo's wrists. "I could let you out of those restraints. You must be in pain. You can't heal your wounds left like this, can you?"

He reaches out toward Ichigo's bandaged eye, the palm of his hand flaring with green light. "I think you would benefit more than I, isn't that right?"

Ichigo's not prepared for Zangetsu seizing control from him without warning. His hand snaps up and snatches Aizen's wrist in midair, stopping it dead. He snarls at Aizen, teeth bared. "Don't you fucking—"

Aizen flicks his wrist with a crackle of kidou, and Zangetsu yanks his hand away with a hiss, just as Ichigo feels pain like fire flare to life within it.

"How interesting," Aizen says, and now his expression has lost all traces of the genial politeness from earlier, studying Ichigo with a cold intensity like an experiment that had proven its value. "It's good to see you, _White._ "

Zangetsu freezes. Ichigo doesn't understand the tangle of emotions he senses from him—disbelief and panic and terror and _shut up, make him shut up—_

Aizen stands, taking a step back as Zangetsu lunges with a howl, lashing out at him with fingers curled as if he had claws, or any power to launch an attack whatsoever. The chains draw taut and hold them back, inches from reaching the man. A satisfied smile plays on Aizen's lips. Zan stays crouching on the floor, frozen like prey before a predator, staring up at him and breathing raggedly.

"Well," Aizen says, mild tone in contrast with the hard light in his eyes, "One way or another, it seems I've gotten what I came for today." He turns away. "Farewell, White. Though you call yourself Zangetsu nowadays, don't you? Farewell, Kurosaki Ichigo. I look forward to meeting you again."

Zan's breath hitches. He throws himself forward, clawing at the ground against the chains holding him. _"Wait!"_ he howls. "Who are you—"

The door slams shut behind Aizen, entombing them in scarcely-lit darkness and silence again. Zangetsu stares after him, breathing fast and shallow. His fingers dig into cracks in the ground, trembling. "What?" he rasps. "What did he call me?"

Ichigo can't find words to say anything. Zangetsu pushes himself up and slumps back against the wall, one hand pressing against his temple, then entangling in his hair. "How does he know that name?" he mutters. His fingers dig in to the point of pain. "I remember him! I know I remember him!"

' _Zangetsu!'_ Ichigo shouts, but he doesn't know if the hollow hears.

"What did he call me?" Zangetsu whispers in a shaky voice under his breath. "What does it mean?" He winces and presses the heel of his palm against his forehead. "I don't… remember…"

 _'Zangetsu!'_ Ichigo cries. _'Get a grip!'_

The spirit's head jerks up, eyes wide and searching. "Ichigo?" His eyes narrow into slits, as his fingers dig into the ground hard enough to break nails. "Ichigo, we have to kill him."

 _'What… are you saying?'_ Ichigo says, suddenly afraid.

"It's him," Zangetsu whispers. "I swore to kill…" He leans back against the wall behind him and closes his eyes. "Ichigo. You're with me, right?"

' _Of course I—'_ Ichigo falls silent. What is he agreeing to? What does Zangetsu know that he doesn't, who is Aizen, why does Zangetsu know more about him than Ichigo? Why does his own zanpakutou have so many secrets?

Zangetsu's eyes widen. "How could you doubt me? He's our enemy! Just let me kill him! Just listen to me for once—"

' _You sound really reasonable, what with the hijacking my body and whatnot,'_ Ichigo snaps.

Zangetsu blinks. He raises a hand to his face and stares at the torn skin and dried blood on their fingertips, apparently puzzled. "My bad," he mutters.

' _Forget it,'_ Ichigo says. ' _Are you going to give me answers—'_

Ichigo blinks, finding himself shoved back into control of his body. Zangetsu makes to retreat to the depths of his subconscious—fully intent on ignoring Ichigo, isn't he?

"Wait!" Ichigo says. "Don't just—" He closes his eyes and follows his unresponsive zanpakutou to wherever he hides to sulk in the depths of his soul.

He opens his eyes to biting wind howling through the spaces between skyscrapers, lit in dull grey light that filters through the heavy clouds covering the sky. It's the same city of identical sideways skyscrapers that he'd awoken in back in the shattered shaft. Intact this time, but the heaviness in the air hints at rain. The world that represents his soul, is what he remembers Zangetsu calling it back then, during their first face-to-face meeting.

He whirls around to see the spirit standing behind him, hair being blown by the wind, eyes narrowed into cold shards of gold pinned on him. His mouth cracks into a smile with clenched teeth.

"Here to demand answers? You get more troublesome every day."

Ichigo shifts on his feet. When he opens his mouth, he doesn't end up saying what he thought he would.

"I trust you."

"Right now?"

"Of course."

The hollow turns away.

Ichigo steps forward. "Who is White?"

"Not me," Zangetsu hisses. "If you trust me, King, you don't need to beg answers. Do what I say for once."

"I do trust you," Ichigo says. He pauses and blurts out, "But you look at that Aizen guy like you're scared, so I want to know why."

The hollow turns around and sneers at him. "That's not true."

"You act like he's hurt you," Ichigo presses.

Zangetsu lets out a feral hiss. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Look," Ichigo says, "I won't ask you to spill right now."

"Good," the hollow snaps, interrupting him. "I'm tired of you."

Ichigo takes a step forward. "But you'll tell me someday, right? Swear it. It doesn't have to be now. But before it's too late, right?"

Zangetsu turns his back. Ichigo moves to take another step toward him, hand rising. "I just want to understand! You never tell—"

Zangetsu glances back and Ichigo can identify something like weariness in his eyes and the set of his shoulders, making him look hauntingly like himself in a mirror. "Stupid trusting king. I swear, then. Now give me a break."

He turns toward Ichigo and pushes out a hand. Ichigo's senses are overwhelmed by a flash of light and a crushing force, then his eyes snap open to find himself back in his body, sitting in a cold jail cell without even the presence of his sword spirit for company.

"I bet other people's swords don't get like this," Ichigo mutters.

He sighs and draws his knees to his chest, picking at the blood on his fingers

* * *

Ichigo must've sunk into a doze, because he snaps awake with a start when a clatter of metal fills the whole cell. He looks around wildly with his heart jumpstarted into panic mode, then winces and clutches his head. His eyes settle on the open doorway with the heavy metal door flung open as a small woman with a haori and sharp eyes marches in, looking furious.

Ichigo starts looking around for escape routes. Outside the door, he sees the shadows of two larger burlier shinigami, flanking it. His eyes snap back to the captain as she walks toward him.

She stops in front of him, fingers tapping idly on the hilt of her shortsword. "Explain your plan. Tell me how they got in."

Ichigo blinks. "Huh?"

"Don't play dumb," the woman says, each word fiercely articulated, "Do you think it'll work on me? We were attacked. I know it's related to you, so tell me what you know."

"Attacked," Ichigo mutters. He ducks his head down and presses his forehead against his knees, pretending to have a headache, to try and hide his reaction. Now he's glad he was too out of it to figure out what she was talking about at first. He couldn't bluff his way through a poker match at a hundred percent. Now an interrogation?

Because he's come to the same conclusion as the captain. It must be his friends. They've found a way into Seireitei. Into danger, for _him_. His only consolation is they must not have been found yet, if this captain is resorting to squeezing him for information.

He peers up. "I wouldn't know anything. I came alone."

Good thing that, however hard she tries, Ichigo has no information to give her. He doesn't know how Yoruichi got into Seireitei and the werecat'll probably keep her secrets.

The woman's eyes narrow. "A likely story. I came here for answers and I won't leave without them. Make this easy on yourself, brat."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ichigo admits.

"A gang of ryoka attacked riding in some sort of reiryoku cannonball!" she snaps. "It fell from the sky and broke through the shakonmaku barrier! I know you have something to do with this!"

Ichigo stares at her, then bursts into faint wheezes of laughter. Almost immediately, he winces and clutches his head again. "Oh fuck. Ow."

The captain looks bewildered. She narrows her eyes at Ichigo, willing him to die from her glare alone. "Are you mocking me?"

"What?" Ichigo gasps, still out of breath. "Um. No! Look, I really don't have any information to tell you. Sorry."

The captain stares at him for what drags out into a long time, until Ichigo's fighting the urge to look away or fidget. Abruptly, she turns away, her haori flapping behind her. "Our hands are too tied to deal with you right now. I'll be back, ryoka. Count on it."

She matches out the door which slams shut behind her, another sound that makes Ichigo jump. Locks click on the other side. Ichigo slumps against the wall, staring at it as the cell falls into silence again.

He looks up at the ceiling. "A cannonball through the sky? What the heck, Yoruichi?"

"It's almost a shame you weren't with us, Ichigo," a voice says from a corner of the cell.

* * *

 _You're the most popular prisoner today, Ichigo._

 _Drop a review, support a mess of an author!_


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